Independents joining the Tea Party

Gerald Seib:

Independent voters are the canaries in the coal mine of American politics, telling a leader whether the air is safe or starting to fill up with some toxic gases.

Bearing that in mind, President Barack Obama and his team ought to start worrying about the health of those canaries.

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Among these people, who tend to reside in the middle of the ideological spectrum, the president's job-approval rating fell to 45% from 60% in April.

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In particular, the survey suggests, independents are developing gnawing fears about government spending. They are markedly more worried about the federal budget deficit as an economic issue than are Americans in general, and they are more likely to be skeptical of Mr. Obama's plan for a health-care overhaul.

Above all, though, independents are starting to simply view the president as more liberal than they expected. The share of independents who say Mr. Obama is a liberal has risen to a substantial 64% from 46% two months ago. A large portion of them actually classify him as "very liberal." That's a particular problem because independents tend to view themselves as center-right -- 78% call themselves moderate or conservative -- so they see a president moving to the left of where they are.

"This is a clear and important danger for him," says Mr. Hart, the Democratic pollster. Independents, he adds, don't seem to worry so much that Mr. Obama is trying to tackle too many issues, but rather that "this administration is leaning much more left than they expected" as he handles those issues.

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While campaigning, Obama was able to fool these people with his rhetoric, but when he gets specific with his programs his liberalism is showing through his attempts to disguise it. He is what conservatives have said he was all along. These are the voters who are showing up at the Tea Party rallies now. We should welcome them back.