<![CDATA[RealClearPolitics - Articles by Paul Maslin]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/authors/?id=15873Author <![CDATA[Things Aren't Really Bleak For the President]]> Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Let's dispense with the "dog bites man" aspect of this first -- Barack Obama's approval rating has slipped. As it does for all presidents in the first year, as hope collides with reality, expectation with output.

His latest number is about 54 percent, according to the Real Clear Politics average of most recent national surveys. That places him practically at the bottom (Bill Clinton was lower at 44 percent) for this stage of presidents for which we have a track record of polling in their first terms, essentially beginning with Truman. (I suspect Obama's fellow Illinoisan Lincoln -- depending on how the South was sampled -- would never have hit 54 percent.) It marks a decline from...]]> <![CDATA[Will the Youth Vote Win it for Obama?]]> Wed, 28 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500 <![CDATA[Could Obama Get to 270?]]> Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500