NEW FOX POLL BRINGS GOP SMILES – AT 4:01 P.M. ET:  A new poll just announced by Fox brings reassurance to the GOP.  It confirms, among other items, that the enthusiasm gap tilts dramatically in the Republicans' direction, while Obama's approval rating hits a new low:

With less than 50 days until Election Day, American voters favor Republicans over Democrats by a six percentage-point margin, and that advantage widens among those voters most interested in the election. After the economy, the next most important issue to voters is the trustworthiness of candidates.

Meanwhile, President Obama’s job rating has hit a new low.

..when the results are narrowed to voters who say they are certain they will vote in November, that gap widens to 9 points.

The Republican advantage expands to 20 points when looking only at results among voters who say they are extremely or very interested in the election -- a group that includes more Republicans (75 percent extremely/very interested) than Democrats (50 percent extremely/very interested).

However, not all the news was good:

The vote among independents is split evenly between the parties (30 percent each).

That worries me.  Constant talk, exaggerated by the mainstream media, about GOP "extremism," can turn off independents, who are the key to any victory.  We'll watch the polling carefully, but I'm concerned a possible erosion in the Republican margin among independents.  This is the second poll this week to show it.

President Obama’s job approval hit a new low this week. Overall, 42 percent of voters approve of the job he is doing, down from 46 percent earlier in September, and 52 percent disapprove. Compare that to his 54 percent approval rating a year ago (15-16 Sept. 2009), and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s current 66 percent approval rating.

Fox now has Obama less popular than does Rasmussen.

The Clinton figure continues to fascinate.  Of course, she's not as exposed as Obama, and knows when to keep her mouth shut.  There may also be some guilt feelings over the way she was treated during the 2008 primary campaign.  We continue to look for signs that Obama might not run in 2012, handing the nomination to Clinton.  The odds are against it because of Obama's ego, but strange things happen in politics.

September 17, 2010