This is interesting; for the first time in nearly eight months, President Obama's approval rating is at 50 percent:
This comes on top of a December bump, with his approval resting at 47 percent for the end of the year. That Obama has maintained a decent approval rating through a poor economy and high unemployment is surprising, and should be sobering to the GOP, particularly as it contemplates constant obstruction and a government shutdown. Obama may seem weak, but he's still the most popular politician in the country, and as the economy improves, so should his approval ratings. If the Clinton years are any indication, Obama wins, easily, in a public stand-off with the Republican Party.
I think John Boehner is smart enough not to repeat the mistakes of 1995, but you can't say the same of his caucus, and it remains to be seen if he is savvy enough to pull his party away from the specter of Gingrich.
-- Jamelle Bouie
