On the Rise

President Obama's job approval ratings are polling close to 50%. In some cases hitting it. This is, no doubt, due to his Arizona speech and to his legislative wins during the lame duck Congressional session. We'll see what happens after Tuesday night's State of the Union address, when some Dems and GOPers will be breaking tradition with mixed seating and the President will call for infrastructure spending.

We are entering a very interesting political period. While unemployment remains way too high, corporations are making big profits again, and there will surely be lots of acquisitions this year. The President was handed a favor by voters in that he now has a Republican House of Representatives to make him look moderate. In fact, it's the GOP that has the most difficult task, to my mind, in that they must keep their extreme wing in check -- right after it won them the election.

The past week has seen Republicans making their most pointed criticisms to date of half-Governor Sarah Palin, while Presidential candidate Mitt Romney just won the New Hampshire straw poll, the first (non-binding, but indicative) race of the GOP Primaries. Romney is from the business wing of the Republican Party, but with President Obama reaching out to businesses and, it appears, already helping them to grow profits, I'm wondering what he'll be able to sell America. Elect him because he laid off workers when he was in private industry? Uh, ok.

President Obama's Presidential re-election campaign, whether he means for it to or not, begins on Tuesday night. One imagines that his opposition, having been burnt yet again for having mis-measured him as wounded, defeated or failed, will be more wary moving forward.

Or maybe just a little more flustered.