In other news, Obama's daily approval rating drops to its lowest point yet

Ryan Streeter
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Gallup's daily tracker shows Obama's approval at 39%, his lowest yet, and his disapproval at 54%.

When you look the trends by party affiliation, you can see that the drop is fueled by the opinion independents presently hold of the President. His approval has fell to 34% among them.

These numbers are changeable, of course. Obama may be tanking too early, if his tanking is your wish. At the beginning of the year, he benefited from his compromise on the Bush tax cut extension, and in May he was riding high after the bin Laden killing. A combination of good fortune, his response to unforeseen events, and Republicans stumbling (something they do from time to time) could completely reverse the trend we see in the chart.

But still. His numbers are just plain bad. Independents have not bought the White House line that the "only adult in the room" has been the one sane voice in Washington lately. Rather, it's clear to them that he was the big loser in the debt talks. He failed to lead. He failed to influence events. In retrospect he practically failed to show up.

These numbers, once again, paint a picture of great opportunity for Republicans. Whether they'll seize it still remains to be seen.