Explaining The Disconnect

If you're like me, you've been wondering how in the world Obama's popularity can remain so high while he does so much damage to this nation.  Powerline uses the GM bailout as an example of a theory that makes a tremendous amount of sense:

One of the most striking features of the young Obama administration is that whatever personal popularity the President enjoys has not carried over to his policies. Obama is currently enjoying a bounce due to greater approval by Hispanics--the result of the Sotomayor nomination--but once again, that bounce fails to be reflected in the realm of policy.

Rasmussen finds today that by a 67 percent to 21 percent margin, voters "oppose a plan for the federal government to give General Motors an additional $50 billion to buy 70% of the company." Only 18 percent say the government will do a good job of running GM. (It would be interesting to know how many of those 18 percent are union members.)

These are absolutely brutal numbers. Along with much other similar data, they suggest that while most Americans find Obama personable and like the idea of an African-American President, he has failed pretty much completely to swing a majority of the country behind his often-radical ideas. Therein lie the seeds of what could be deep trouble for the Democrats in years to come.

We can hope!  Regardless, it's an interesting idea.  I suspect the thorns on the rose will overtake the beauty of the petals once the gas prices (which are already starting to rise again) get painful like they were last summer, and as the inevitable tax increases and inflation start to hit people's paychecks.  When the rubber meets the road, Obama's policies will be found so wanting that Americans who have so far given Obama a pass will demand an account.  Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later, while there's still time to correct things.

There's my two cents.