A recent Pew poll carried some interesting results under a very negative headline. It turns out that 71% of Americans think the President stands up for what he believes in and 63% think he cares about people like them. 59% think he's trustworthy and 71% think he's warm and friendly. These are great numbers, semi-hidden behind the negative slant of the article which is focused on a drop in "approval", "strong leader", and "able to get things done". Of course there's a good reason for fewer people to believe the President can get things done after the last 8 months of GOP obstruction in the House and the continuing weakness of Senate Democrats, but when the election comes around, the President who got Bin Ladin will remind the voters that he did in 2 years what Bush couldn't do in 7 years. It's also up to the President's team to find ways to do things by executive action in the next year or so - and they appear to be doing exactly that. It is worth noting the extreme disconnect between the public perception of the President as someone who stands up for what he believes in and the ongoing campaign to portray the President as weak and unprincipled by people who claim to be Democrats and supporters - just ones who, they insist, are perceptive enough and brave enough to be critical. Somehow their perceptive and brave criticism lines up with what the corporate media and the Republican PR machine says but not with what the vast majority of the public thinks. Interesting.