Poll Dance

Obama is preparing to being his second term with nearly the lowest poll numbers of any president in recent history:

President Obama is about to start his second year in office with his job approval rating at 50 percent, a long way from the 68 percent he enjoyed when he was sworn in and the second lowest of all presidents since Dwight Eisenhower at the start of their second year, according to a Gallup poll conducted Jan. 2-4.

Measured against the 50 percent who approve of Obama's performance, 44 percent disapprove.

The only president during the time of Gallup's polling who had lower job approval ratings at this point was Ronald Reagan, who began his second year in the midst of what was then considered the worst recession since the Depression, not unlike the position Obama has found himself in. Reagan's approval rating was 49 percent with 40 percent disapproving of his performance.

During that downturn near the beginning of Reagan's first term, the number of unemployed peaked at 9 million toward the end of 1982. In November of last year, 15.4 million were jobless, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The highest job approval ratings at the beginning of a second year were notched by George H.W. Bush at 84 percent, the second George Bush at 80 percent and John F. Kennedy at 79 percent.

We can't forget that Reagan, despite the low numbers at the start of his second year, went on to have a very successful presidency and won re-election in a landslide. I hope that part of history doesn't repeat itself.

These numbers also show how much circumstances play into the polls. George W. Bush's 2nd year started shortly after 9/11 when the country was still pretty much united behind him and his response to the terror attacks. That all went away over the next seven years.

I can't imagine the situation right now that would cause much of a recovery in Obama's numbers. His agenda is being rejected by the American people, and the heavy-handed way the Democrats are running Congress is not helping. It wouldn't surprise me terribly if the numbers he has today turn out to be the high water mark for 2010.