Approval Still High For President Obama

After their disastrous beating in the last election, the Republicans had a choice -- one positive and one negative. On the positive side, they could regroup, come up with new ideas, and cooperate with the new president in a bipartisan way wherever possible. Or they could launch a negative campaign and try to bring President Obama down in the gutter with them. Sadly, they chose to travel the low road.

Since President Obama took office, the Republicans have done everything they can to obstruct everything he's tried to accomplish. They've tried to label him as both a socialist and a fascist (even though these are on opposite ends of the politic.al spectrum). They've called him a muslim and a friend of terrorists, and tried to convince us he's putting America in danger. They've accused him of trying to tax Americans to death (even though for 95% of Americans he's instituted a lower tax than any Republican president since World War II -- including St. Ronnie).

Their latest pathetic attempt to smear the President was the "tea parties" organized by rich Republicans and promoted by their PR machine (Fox News). They tried to pass this off as a grassroots uprising against the president and his policies, but the poor turnout and spouting of right-wing slogans showed it was just another part of the Republican mud-slinging machine.

So -- is it working? Are they beginning to drag President Obama down to their level? Not even a little bit. Three separate polls were conducted recently to guage just how much the American people approve of the job our president is doing. All three polls show President Obama has a very high job approval rating. Here they are:

Pew Research Center...........63%

Associated Press / Roper...........64%

Gallup Poll...........65%

Those are huge numbers, especially considering the mud-slinging campaign that has been waged against him (and the fact the last Republican president couldn't break 30%). And this is not just a general approval. A solid majority approve of the President's handling of both foreign policy issues and domestic issues (including the economy). The people support President Obama and are willing to give him a chance to get things done.

But there is someone even more popular than President Obama. Michelle Obama currently has an approval rating of 76% (up from 68% in January). Surprisingly, 67% of Republican women approve of the First Lady (up 21 points since January).