26% approval rating

A new low of 26% of Americans approve of President Barack Obama's handling of the economy, down 11 percentage points since Gallup last measured it in mid-May and well below his previous low of 35% in November 2010.

 His solution? Go on the road, attack Congress as ineffective, and promise a major something in September. I don't think they quite get it, his political team: attacking Congress is more of the same tried and failed strategy of not taking responsibility, but simply casting blame.

President Obama's approval rating has dwindled in recent weeks to the point that it is barely hugging the 40% line. Three months earlier, it approached or exceeded 50%. History will remember this period for the messy political debate in Washington over the debt ceiling, followed by distress on Wall Street and tragedy in Afghanistan. How much each of these factors is responsible for the overall decline in Obama's approval rating is unclear. But Americans' unhappiness with each of them is reflected in recent declines in Obama's specific job ratings for the economy, the federal budget deficit, and various foreign policy measures, as well as in his markedly low rating for creating jobs.

Of course, as Rick Perry and his Texas swagger jump to the lead in the early Republican line, and push the Republican party decidedly to the right, the president benefits. it might work, to rely on the Republican Party losing the election and his winning reelection, but it won't do a damned thing to help the nation improve.