The Rump Isn't Happy

Pew reports:

Barack Obama has the most polarized early job approval ratings of any president in the past four decades. The 61-point partisan gap in opinions about Obama’s job performance is the result of a combination of high Democratic ratings for the president 88% job approval among Democrats and relatively low approval ratings among Republicans (27%)

Peter Wehner pounces:

It became apparent quite early that bipartisanship was a fictional commitment for Barack Obama; shutting Republicans out of negotiations and promoting what ranks among the most left-wing domestic agendas in our lifetime was all the evidence some of us needed. Apparently most of the rest of the nation understands that as well.

Er, most of the rest of the nation? The percentage of Republicans approving of Obama at this point is almost identical to that approving of Clinton in 1993. And it seems obvious to me that this is not a reflection of the president, but of the opposition. Republicans are historically far more hostile to presidents of the opposite party than the Democrats. And this year, as Obama clearly reached out, and as Fox/Limbaugh/Drudge went into near parodic outrage, it's clearer than ever who is responsible. Check out the Independent vote. That's what matters.