Obama losing the independents

Politico:

In a potentially alarming trend for the White House, independent voters are deserting President Barack Obama nationally and especially in key swing states, recent polls suggest.

Obama’s job approval rating hit a — still healthy — low of 56 percent in the Gallup Poll on Wednesday. And pollsters are debating whether Obama’s expansive and expensive policy proposals or the ground-level realities of a still-faltering economy are driving the falling numbers.

But a source of the shift appears to be independent voters, who seem to be responding to Republican complaints of excessive spending and government control.

“This is a huge sea change that is playing itself out in American politics,” said Democratic pollster Doug Schoen. “Independents who had become effectively operational Democrats in 2006 and 2008 are now up for grabs and are trending Republican.

“They’re saying, ‘Costing too much, no results, see the downside, not sure of the upside,’” he said.

...

I think these are the former Perot voters who are deficit hawks and anti big government spending. They are also showing up at the Tea Parties and represent a real opportunity for the GOP in 2010 and beyond. The real question that ought to be asked is why they were seduced by Obama and the Democrats to begin with. I think it is because they are largely reactionary and they were angry at Republicans for being big spenders.