Poll Show Obama Leading Dems To Defaet

A new, national McClatchy-Marist poll is out and it shows that President Barack Obama is dragging down his party and hurting the prospects of fellow Democrats as they head into midterm elections. Indeed, the potential repercussions of the president's slide are serious.

Consider the following:

• Just 40 percent of voters polled approve of the way Obama's doing his job. This ties his worst mark in three years and the second worst of his presidency.
• Just 39 percent approve of the way he’s dealing with the economy and only 33 percent approve of how he’s handling foreign policy. These numbers are the worst for Obama, ever. 
• By a significant 42-32 percent margin, voters now say their opinions of Obama make them more likely to vote for a Republican this November.
• And now, for the first time, more people said they’d vote for a Republican than a Democrat for Congress, by 43 percent to 38 percent. 
• Independents are breaking for Republicans over Democrats by 40-26, with 12 percent picking neither party and 22 percent undecided.
• This key group of independents disapprove of Obama’s job performance by 53-35 percent. They disapprove of his handling of the economy by 58-39 percent, the same as the national result. They also disapprove of his work on foreign policy by 64-31.
• The president's support among Latino voters has slipped dramatically. Latino voters now give the edge to Democrats by only 40-38 percent. Whites support Republicans by 48-34 percent. African-Americans remain fairly solid for the Democrats by 64-19 percent. But that 19 percent for the GOP is about as high as it's ever been among African-Americans.
• Just 30 percent approve of the way Obama's handling the conflict between Israel and Hamas, while 55 percent disapprove. The numbers are worse among independents: 24-60 percent.
• A mere 32 percent approve of the way Obama's handling the turmoil in Ukraine, while 51 percent disapprove. Independents disapprove by 54-21.
• Obama’s drag on the party is evident across the country, with voters more likely to vote for a Republican than a Democrat by 8 percentage points in the Midwest, 10 points in the South, 11 points in the Northeast and 13 points in the West. Those figures for the Northeast and West are absolutely startling and represent a huge switch.
• In another dramatic turnaround, women are now more likely to vote Republican this November, as are all age groups.

Yes, November is months away and that's an eternity in politics.

These numbers could change.

But experience shows that the pattern for midterm elections is set early on, and right now things do not look good for Obama and the Democrats. 

This is, in part why we expect Obama to make some kind of major announcement and/or take some major action possibly as early as the beginning of next week. He's desperate to shake things up and energize his base. He needs to change the narrative. Stay tuned!