President Obama’s approval rating continues to rise. Pollster.com now shows it reaching 50.0% (+5.7% net) without Rasmussen polls, and 49.5% (+3.1%) with Rasmussen polls. That is a net gain of roughly 9% since November 2nd, and likely enough to wipe out the entire electoral advantage Republicans held on that day.
If you are looking for a cause of this improvement, there is no need to dig for anything complicated. Since November 2nd, the right direction / wrong track national trendlines have shifted from a net negative 30.5% to a net negative 21.9%, for an overall positive swing of 8.6% when Rasmussen polls are included. This size of this swing is almost identical to the 8.5% net rise in President Obama’s approval rating when Rasmussen polls are included.
Additionally, the change in the view of the direction of the country took place at almost exactly the same time as the rise in President Obama’s approval rating. Here is graph overlaying the job approval and right direction trendlines on Pollster.com showing how closely connected the two trends have been since November 2nd:
Graph does not include Zogby Interactive polls, but does include Rasmussen polls.
The rise in President Obama’s approval rating isn’t a personal trend, based on a well-received speech he gave. It also isn’t a news cycle trend, based upon any legislative victory he scored in Congress. Compared to those ephemeral moments, this trend is based on a far more solid foundation. It is connected to the way Americans view the country as a whole, something which goes beyond any news cycle or legislative fight. Simply put, an increasing number Americans view the country as moving in the right direction, and as such an increasing number of Americans approve of their head of state.
If only these trends had started three months earlier...