Obama by the numbers ....

Obama Sees Approval Slide in His Third Quarter

President Barack Obama's average job approval rating dropped to 53% in the third quarter of 2009, from 62% in the second quarter; the largest second to third quarter drop for an elected president.

Change in Presidential Approve Averages: Second to Third Quarter in Office

44th Obama: -9
43rd G.W. Bush: +16
42nd: Clinton: +4
41st H. Bush: +5
40th Reagan: -4
39th Carter: -4
38th Nixon: -2
37th Kennedy +1
36th Eisenhower -4

http://www.gallup.com/video/123809/Obama-Sees-Approval-Slide-Third-Quarter.aspx

If we know anything we know that Presidential approval ratings can change fast. There's little denying that the President's 9 point drop is connected directly to Health Care.

Falling below 50 percent before November in the first year of office would mean the third-fastest plunge in a president's rating since World War II, Gallup said.

Republican Gerald Ford, who took over after Richard Nixon left office in disgrace, hit that low in the third month of his presidency; Democrat Bill Clinton, in his fourth. Father-son presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush stayed above the 50percent mark about three years; and Lyndon Johnson and Nixon, more than two years, Gallup said.

A's M.