It seems like it was an eternity ago that Obama was doing his post-government shutdown gloating media tour, when day after day the world was bombarded with news of the GOP's record low popularity rating, paradoxically following their attempt to do what even the president is now desperate to achieve: delay Obamacare. Well, the tables have turned and now that the government shutdown is history, at least until January, and the public focus has shifted to where it should have been in the first place - namely the embarrassing ponzi scheme experiment that is Obamacare, and the epic failure surrounding its rushed rollout - it is Obama's turn to suffer a record low rating, which is precisely what happened according to a just concluded WSJ/NBC News poll.
The WSJ reports [10]that "the popular discontent that engulfed Republicans amid the partial government shutdown has now washed over President Barack Obama, whose job approval rating has sunk to an all-time low. Americans just weeks ago heaped scorn largely on congressional Republicans over the dysfunction in Washington. But the new poll found a sharp turn against Mr. Obama, during a month in which lawmakers tiptoed up to a potential debt default and the White House fumbled the rollout of its signature health-care law.
Specifically:
Mr. Obama's job approval fell to 42%, with 51% of respondents disapproving of his performance as president. That marked a drop in his approval rating from 47% in early October and 53% at the end of 2012.
At the same time, more Americans now view Mr. Obama negatively than positively, for the first time since he emerged as a national political candidate.
In all, the poll of 800 Americans captured an extraordinarily deep and widespread public distaste for the two political parties, those parties' leaders and the state of politics in the nation's capital.
Elsewhere, it appears that Americans just have given up on the government system, whose increasing corruption and cooption by moneyed interests is now obvious to everyone:
Optimism about the U.S. system of government, at 30%, was at the lowest ebb in 40 years. Just 29% said their congressional representative deserved re-election—a new low—while nearly three-quarters said Congress was contributing to the problems in Washington instead of working to solve them.
House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, both Republicans, hit their highest negative ratings, as did Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.
"Americans are voicing their frustration at a Congress that cannot keep the government open for business and an administration that cannot get health care open for enrollment," Mr. Hart said.
Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducts the survey along with Democrat Fred Yang, described the findings as a "shock wave" that showed the depth of "anger and frustration with everybody in Washington."
Frustration... and yet nobody will dare to change anything for fear of losing their precious entitlements, which are unsustainable as is and like in Detroit will end up with pennies on the dollar, or for fear of infringing on their Dancing with the Stars TV time.
Visually:
[11]