NEOAVATARA

Barack Obama came into office as a change agent.

He has ruled as an ideologue.

And it is starting to cost him

We all know about the plummeting nationwide polls, with Obama below 50% in both the Rasmussen and Gallup national tracking polls.  Even before his personal ratings dropped, his policy initiatives were already tanking in public opinion.  The Democrats are now less favored than Republicans on almost every major policy initiative.  That is a dramatic change from 8 months ago, when Democrats held wide majorities in everything but national defense.

One of the key barometers historically for Independents is the state of Minnesota.  Although generally a left leaning state, a large number of its residents are independents.  And they have a maverick streak, as can be seen by the elections of Jesse Ventura as Governor in the nineties, and Al Franken last year for Senate.

But the the tide is shifting.

Since Barack Obama was inaugurated President, there has been a significant shift from Democrats toward Republicans.  A SurveyUSA poll finds 34 percent of Minnesotans now identify as Republicans – the largest percentage enjoyed by the GOP in 63 surveys conducted by the organization dating back to its inaugural tracking poll in May 2005, when 35 percent identified as Republicans.  The Democratic slide – and Republican gain – in party ID may be tied to the slipping approval ratings of President Barack Obama. Obama’s approval numbers were measured at an all-time low of 51 percent in July by SurveyUSA, down eight points from June.

What is more shocking is that Obama has lost 13 points in one month…in late June, Democrat support was over 40%.

Clearly the economy is a major player.  But health care is as well.  In a state which generally supports universal health care, the current old boys politics Obama and Democrats are playing with the issue has not gone over well.  Remember, for all the talk from Barack Obama regading the Mayo Clinic, based in Rochester, MN, the people at Mayo are so far not very enthusiastic about the current Obamacare plan.  That does not bode well for Democrats.

Minnesota is not a state that is naturally friendly to Republicans. This shift shows that the Democrats loss in public support may be more than just a blowing of the wind.