Americans are coming around on Obama

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

For today's reminder that political headwinds can change on a dime, consider President Obama's approval rating. Or, more specifically, consider that it has rebounded from last fall's record lows and is creeping back toward positive territory.

Obama's approval rating stands at 46 percent in the latest Gallup tracking poll, just a smidge less than the 48 percent of adults who disapprove of the president's job performance. Though that's still a net negative split, it's far better than Obama was doing late last year when polls routinely found him with double-digit deficits; one CBS poll pegged Obama's approval/disapproval split at 37/57 percent.

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It's the first bit that is most salient to Democrats as they head into the midterms. Republicans have been counting on Obama and ObamaCare to be less popular than the plague come November in hopes it will weigh down Democratic candidates. They may need a new plan. Polls have shown voters warming up to the health care law, and if they keep warming to the president, too, that could shred part of the GOP's campaign strategy.

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Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.

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