FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
President Obama is the most polarizing first-year president since it was first tracked in the Eisenhower era.
A new Gallup poll shows on average - 88 percent of Democrats approved of the president during his first year in office - but only 23 percent of Republicans did.
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This 65 point gap for President Obama is higher than the previous record of 52 points for Bill Clinton; and also tops George W. Bush's first year gap of 45 points.
Bush's average gap for the eight years was 61 points between Republican and Democrat approval; and if Mr. Obama continues in the direction he's headed, he could be more polarizing than Bush. Go figure.
Keep in mind - One year ago, President Obama came into office with one of the highest approval ratings among post-World War II presidents. But he quickly lost most of the Republican support while maintaining that of the Democrats. And overall his approval rating has been going down.
Gallup suggests that although President Obama set out to unite Americans, the country itself has become much more partisan.
There is of course time for President Obama to turn around these numbers, starting perhaps with the State of the Union address Wednesday night.
With the Democrats' loss of Ted Kennedy's senate seat last week - even some in his own party believe the president's priority of health care reform is dead. Also, with Democrats scrambling for cover in light of November's election - many believe the president can no longer command unity in his own party.
If that's the case, it could be a real challenge for the president to push through other legislative priorities.
Here’s my question to you: Why has President Obama become such a polarizing figure?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Justin writes:
Obama said to judge him by who he surrounds himself with. Well, we see it. Socialists and Communists, and they've been trying to shove their agenda down our throats.
Jim writes:
Fortunately, in 2009 Americans did not experience a cataclysmic event or an outside threat of the sort that tends to promote unity. Critics of bailout, health care reform and more managed to make national government the evil agent. When many Americans think evil national government, they see the president's image.
Denis from Pittsburgh writes:
Pres. Obama is out-of-touch with America. He promised great change if elected. The only change is for the worse. The bottom line is that he is just another stuffed shirt. The only person that he is listening to is himself. One year into his term and he is already a lame duck.
J. from Missouri writes:
Because he is black and he is Democrat. The Republican strategy is to trash any Democrat in office. That causes polarization. And I come from a Southern state. I know there is a large minority who believe blacks should not hold office, especially the presidency.
Donna writes:
Obama has turned out to be a narcissist. He is so wrapped up in his own agenda that he doesn't listen to the American people.
John writes:
The only reason Obama is polarizing is because the right-wing and corporatists have done an effective job of misrepresenting his policies. After the 2008 election, the Republican Party had no choice. In order to survive, it had to vote as a bloc in order to derail the administration, and that is exactly what it has done.
Eugene from California writes:
Jack, I too was proud of President Obama's election but I never got that warm, tingly feeling in my leg. Americans have discovered the hard way that Obama's an ineffectual elitist as well as just another lying, pandering politician.