'Cranky and fickle' Independent voters may be turning back to Obama

Washington, jan.24 (ANI): President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats learned at least one big lesson in the November 2010 elections-What the independent voter gives, the independent voter can also take away.

Now, the same temperamental bloc that threw House Democrats out of power appear to be in a giving mood again - at least as far as Obama is concerned, Politico reports.

That unpredictable, cranky group of voters who helped carry Obama into office two years ago before turning against him in dramatic fashion, may be turning back in his direction even more quickly.

A series of national polls released over the last week shows Obama's approval rating on the upswing among voters who don't affiliate with either political party.

In two polls, Obama's standing with independents jumped by double digits.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed him clocking 46 percent approval among independents - an 11-point increase since December.

A CNN/Opinion Research survey was even more sanguine, showing a 15-point leap for Obama, to 56 percent approval.

A third poll, conducted for CBS and the New York Times, gave the president a more conservative, 43 percent approval number among independents.

Just 39 percent of independents said they disapproved of Obama's performance, marking a startling reversal since October, when his disapproval rating was 15 points higher with independents than his approval rating.

The bigger picture is that Obama seems to be getting at least something of a second chance with a hugely influential slice of the electorate that abandoned Democrats in droves during the 2009 and 2010 elections.

Republican pollster David Winston acknowledged that Obama has had a good run with the political middle lately.

Democratic strategist Dan Gerstein had a similar assessment of why Obama's numbers have improved, arguing that Obama is again projecting the even-handed image that led independent voters to like him in the first place.

Gallup gives Obama a solid, 46 percent approval rating with independents the pollster recorded only a modest, single digit increase since mid-December, when Obama was at 41 percent.

Winston emphasized that even in some of the polls that show Obama doing better with independents, many of those voters still disapprove of his handling of the economy - the issue most strategists believe will decide the 2012 election. (ANI)