Nothing can stop him, and certainly not unpopularity. In spite of the constant (boring?) assaults from the right, President Obama's popularity rating remains in positive territory. John Harwood writes in The Caucus:
Oil has gushed into the Gulf of Mexico for eight weeks now — and sent a bipartisan wave of criticism crashing into the White House.
Allies and adversaries have accused President Obama of reacting too slowly, deferring too much to BP, displaying too little emotion and demonstrating incompetent management. Fans of historical analogy compare his performance to ineffectual responses by President Jimmy Carter during the Iran hostage crisis, and President George W. Bush during Hurricane Katrina.
In other words, the crisis in the gulf has become a first-class political crisis, too.
Right?
Maybe not — or at least, not so far.
Polls show that American voters give Mr. Obama the same mixed evaluation as before the spill. They like him personally but have reservations about his policies. Roughly half approve of his performance in the Oval Office, about where the president has remained since last fall, after his initial honeymoon with Americans faded.
“It’s hard to make the case that the BP oil spill has a substantial impact on Obama’s job approval,” said Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster.
That doesn't mean, though, that they won't keep on trying. Ironically, the president's coattails in the upcoming election may be determined by something he has no control over: the flow rate of oil into the Gulf.
