Flush, Flush, Flush

Bad news for Hope-n-Change, Inc.:

Americans are a little less enthusiastic about the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama this time around.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% of adults say they would be at least somewhat likely to vote for Obama if he was up for reelection right now. Forty-nine percent (49%) say they would be unlikely to vote for the president's reelection.

Thirty-four percent (34%) would be very likely to support Obama, while 40% say they would be not at all likely to do so.

When it comes to winning elections, it depends a lot on the local ground game.  To have a good local ground game, there needs to be a lot of passion to prompt people to get out and volunteer, go door-to-door, make phone calls, etc.  So, not only are the overall numbers underwater for Obama, but the passionate numbers ('very likely', 'not at all') are even worse.

Perhaps even worse is what Rasmussen found on the economy:

Voters for the first time are blaming President Obama nearly as much as President Bush for the country's continuing economic problems.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 49% still blame the economic situation on the recession that began under Bush. But 45% now say the nation's economic problems are caused more by Obama's policies.

Yes, people still blame Bush more than Obama, but here's the key thing to understand:

Just a month ago, 55% pointed the finger at Bush, while only 37% said the policies Obama has put in place since taking office were at fault. These findings had remained largely unchanged since May.

Sixty-two percent (62%) now trust their own judgment more than the president's when it comes to the economic issues facing the nation, up three points from a month ago and up 13 points from early February.

That's a whole lot of shedding in a very short time.  And, given that most elections are decided on the economy -- after all, the status of one's pocketbook says a lot about one's outlook on life -- the continuation of this trend could be absolutely killer by the time the 2010 and 2012 elections come around.

Bill Kristol suggests that this may be the end of the Bush hangover.

Bush didn't do much for fiscal responsibility while he was in office (that's putting it mildly), but his spending over the course of eight years was child's play compared to what Obama's done in just over eight months.  It's about time this myth was busted.

There's my two cents.