WHERE OBAMA STANDS – AT 9:11 A.M. ET:  Not in a good place, according to a new Quinnipiac poll just out.  In fact, Mr. Obama's numbers have dipped to all-time lows.  From The Politico:

President Barack Obama’s approval rating and prospects for reelection have plunged to all-time lows in a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

Half of the registered voters surveyed for the poll think that the president does not deserve a second term in office, while 41 percent say he does. In another Quinnipiac poll released just four weeks ago, 45 percent said the president did not deserve reelection, while 47 percent said he did.

The decline in support for a second Obama term comes as his approval rating has dropped 4 percentage points since early March, landing at 42 percent – a record low – in the poll released Wednesday. His disapproval rating has risen from 46 percent to 48 percent.

The downward shift may in part be the result of dissatisfaction over U.S involvement in Libya, with 47 percent of those surveyed saying they oppose it. By a margin of 58 percent to 29 percent, registered voters said that Obama has not clearly stated U.S. goals for the mission.

COMMENT:  We stress, of course, that this is one poll.  Results will vary according to poll, but the president hasn't scored that well recently. 

It is quite possible, by the way, that the president is in even worse shape that the poll indicates.  It was taken among registered voters, not likely voters.  Surveys among likely voters tend to tilt even more toward the Republican side.

Polls at this stage of the 2012 campaign are very preliminary, as the Republicans haven't even chosen a candidate.  But the door is open for the right person.

March 30, 2011