Ross Douthat on Obama, the diminished president

THE 'DIMINISHED PRESIDENT': Ross Douthat laments Obama's loss of support over the debt crisis. "By rights, Barack Obama should be emerging as the big political winner in the debt ceiling debate. For months, he’s positioned himself near the center of public opinion, leaving Republicans to occupy the rightward flank. Poll after poll suggests that Americans prefer the president’s call for a mix of spending cuts and tax increases to the Republican Party’s anti-tax approach. Poll after poll shows that House Republicans, not Obama, would take most of the blame if the debt ceiling weren’t raised." Surprisingly, though, Obama seems to have taken much of the blame over the whole crisis, and his poll numbers have taken a serious beating, falling to lows described in Douthat's article as 'George W. Bush-esque'. And indeed they are: a low of 40% was recently recorded in a Gallup poll. "The voters incline toward Obama on the issues, still like him personally and consider the Republican opposition too extreme. But they are increasingly judging his presidency a failure anyway."