The latest presidential poll has Obama’s approval rating slipping under 50% - a rater higher than Reagan’s first months in office – but is this due to actual performance or personal protection of a historic politician? 

Recent polls have shown that President Obama’s approval ratings continue to slide in an inverse relationship to the rise of unemployment rates in states across the nation. Despite this downtrend in popularity to the president and his directives in Washington, many pundits highlight that the president’s ratings are still comparable to past presidents including Presidents Clinton and Reagan. The numbers are clear – the ratings are similar, although President Obama has procured one of the fastest drops in approval rating after 10 months in American history – but the reasons behind the ratings are not.  

For example, like President Reagan, President Obama secured the White House at a time when the national economy was a wreck, the American image overseas was weakened (in the case of Reagan, it was after the Iran Hostage Crisis), and the national confidence in America was low. However, unlike Reagan, Obama rides a wave of history that has swept itself into a wall of oft-undeserved protection that keeps confidence in his administration high despite any clear results to foster such devotion.  

So, the question must be asked: is President Obama’s approval rating currently inflated due to the rampant protection of him personally by particular voting blocs including young voters, African-American voters, and Latino voters that could not fathom voting Republican in 2008?  

Not only is the answer yes, but recent events indicate that this wall of protection is sliding away.  

The staunch support of President Obama through cuts in African-American education and increases in overseas support has begun to erode through the recent call to action submitted by the NAACP, the AFL-CIO, and La Raza – three organizations that will never be confused with the RNC and the Republican Governors Association. Although carefully put into terms such as “…pushing the president to do what he already wants to do…”, the message given last week was clear: Mr. President, you have yet to live up to the promise of helping Main Street as well as Wall Street and, further, the wide-ranging support that you have received from our organizations and their constituents is not without expectations.  

The polling results earlier this month in Virginia and New Jersey – two blue states in 2008 where President Obama actively and openly campaigned for candidates this fall, only for them to lose (including one in a blowout defeat) – seems to support this turn to finally question the monolithic support of the president and the supermajority in Washington. 

Do not be surprised to see the White House approval ratings continue to slip as the economic conditions throughout the country maintain this level of crisis. Without African-American employment hovering around 16% nationally (and upwards of 25% in some states), the near-universal support of President Obama by significant voting blocs such as African-Americans will continue to wear away, only showing a truer approval rating based on performance – not personality – moving forward. 

And if that’s the case, it’s no wonder that the president mentioned that if “…three years from now…poll numbers are in the tank and… politically (he’ll) in a tough spot… (he’ll) feel all right…” – namely, feel all right not running for a second term. Frankly, without the previously-secured support from certain groups in 2008, the American people would have a major say-so in that decision anyway, as we may continue to see through the last days of 2009.   

Lenny McAllister is a national political commentator and author of “Diary of a Mad Black PYC (Proud Young Conservative),” available online at www.tinyurl.com/lennysdiary  and www.amazon.com. Lenny can be heard on XM Radio’s “The New School” this Saturday on Sirius/XM Radio (check www.xmradio.com for listings and times in your area.) Follow him at twitter.com/lennyhhr, on Facebook at tinyurl.com/lennyfacebook, and at www.lennymcallister.com.