Obama Honeymoon is Over

Via Jeff Goldstein and Robert Stacy McCain, President Barack Obama's poll numbers in the latest Zogby survey have dropped to 50 percent approval:

The honeymoon is over, a national poll will signal today as President Obama’s job approval stumbles to about 50 percent over the lack of improvement with the crippled economy.

The sobering numbers come as the president backpedals from two prime-time gaffes - one comparing his bowling score to a Special Olympian and another awkwardly laughing about the economy, which prompted Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes” to ask “are you punch-drunk?”

Pollster John Zogby said his poll out today will show Americans split on the president’s performance. He said the score factors out to “about 50-50.”

Some polls show Obama coasting with a 65 percent job approval, but not in Zogby’s tally.

“The numbers are going down,” Zogby told the Herald. “It’s not because of the gaffes, but a combination of high expectations and that things aren’t moving fast enough with the economy.”

The Other McCain adds this:

This has got to scare Democrats to death, because the whole point of hitching their wagons to Obama's star was that Obama was popular. In fact, one might say that Plouffe, Axelroad & Company developed a formula in which "popular" was an acceptable synonym for "successful." But the gross incompetence of the Obama administration can't be solved by P.R. gimmicks.

See also, Gallup's new survey data, "AIG, Congress, Geithner Target of Bonus Backlash." Only President Obama escapes the public wrath, but barely, with a mediocre 54 percent majority saying they're satisfied the way he's handled the AIG controversy.

See more analysis at Memeorandum.