Barack Obama still enjoys a comfortably high approval rating and the higher it stays the more political power he is likely to wield. You can get stuff done even if your numbers decline but it gets harder. George W. Bush's plans for Social Security "reform" were dead on arrival, in part, because he had long since used up his political capital. Here are Obama's numbers from Pollster.com:
Obama's approval rating shows a slow steady decline. This is not unexpected. First, there's almost always a high-starting honeymoon period folowed by a decline. Second, he has pursued a very aggressive agenda and the more you try to change the more enemies you can expect to make. But given the times, most Americans remain hungry for change and I would attribute most of his small decline to the former.
When considering these approval numbers the questions arises: how does this compare to past Presidents? That part is ahead.
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