Only 26% of the Public Believes Barack Obama Will be Reelected President in 2012

YIKES … Only 26% of the American public think that Barack Obama would be reelected in 2012. I guess we now know how America feels about that Obama “hopey, changey” stuff. Will 2012 turn out to be a Jimmy Carter 1980 second term Presidential election? Obama starts out with 24% of the vote …

President Barack Obama may not have officially been on the ballot in the 2010 midterm elections, but his failed and opposed unpopular policies and agenda certainly were. Following the 2010 midterm tsunami that say the GOP gain the House and majority of governorships, close the gap in the US senate and win an unheard of 680 state legislatures … Barack Obama now finds himself in trouble heading into the 2012 elections.

The midterms not only dealt a big shock to Democrats but also sent a message to President Barack Obama. According to the new POLITICO Power and the People poll, only 26 percent of the public believes he will be reelected as president in 2012. Inside the Beltway, however, expectations are quite different, with D.C. elites saying he will have a second term by a reverse 2 to 1 margin. (49 percent say re-elected; 23 percent say not).

What a shock that the folks “Inside the Beltway” don’t see it the same as the rest of the country. Maybe that can explain the 2012 blow out.

This difference in expectations could mislead the president if he is listening to the Beltway chatter — right here in D.C., he may just find a lot of comfort in this assessment by insiders, and that may lead to actions that don’t fully adjust for the sea change that has occurred among the general public. (See also Poll: D.C. Sees Midterms Differently)