WASHINGTON -- Step by step, President Barack Obama is building a record of major legislation that's sure to make a mark on history.
• The most sweeping financial regulation since the Great Depression.
• A vast expansion of health care, which Democrats had wanted for more than six decades.
• An $862-billion stimulus package that locked in long-sought Democratic priorities.
Yet his job-approval rating remains low.
Why doesn't he get any credit?
First, the economy remains shaky. Second, he went further with a big-government, big-deficit approach than some voters wanted, notably independents, who've turned against him. Third, he broke some of his own promises in the process -- such as becoming a backroom deal-making politician to get health care -- alienating young idealists.
There's still plenty of time for Obama to recover before the 2012 presidential election, particularly if the economy rebounds, unemployed people head back to work and people start feeling the benefits of his achievements in their lives.
For now, however, he's still trying to convince Americans beyond the beltway that his success in Congress will pay off for them. His fellow Democrats are worried that any eventual payoff won't come in time for their congressional elections this fall.
"I don't think he gets any credit on the economy. I don't think he gets any credit for passing the bailouts or his budgets or health care," said Brad Coker, a pollster with Mason-Dixon Polling & Research.
"I don't think he gets credit until things start to work. If they work, he'll get credit. They have to start working by summer or early fall of 2012 for him. But I don't know that there's time for any of it to work by this fall." Not pleased with performance
So far, Americans give the president middling grades.
Just 44% approve of his performance in office, according to the latest Gallup Poll on Friday, while 48% disapprove.
They lean against him issue by issue, according to a new Bloomberg News poll.
The biggest problem is that unemployment remains high and people are worried about their jobs, their paychecks and their savings.
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Poster Comment:
Obama. Worsetest president ever.
