海角大神

It鈥檚 been the summer of his discontent for President Obama, at least in terms of how voters apparently see him.

Gallup reported this past week that Americans are more than twice as likely to say they 鈥渟trongly disapprove鈥� of President Barack Obama's job performance (39 percent) as they are to say they 鈥渟trongly approve鈥� (17 percent), and聽 it鈥檚 been trending in that direction.

鈥淭he percentage of Americans who strongly disapprove of Obama has increased over time, while the percentage who strongly approve has dropped by almost half,鈥� writes Gallup鈥檚 Justin McCarthy in an analysis of the polling organization鈥檚 . 鈥淚n the first year of Obama's presidency, the percentages of Americans who had strong views about the job he was doing were essentially tied [32-30 percent with a slight edge to 鈥渁pprove鈥漖, but the strongly negative responses now significantly outweigh the strongly positive ones.鈥�

When those who 鈥渕oderately鈥� approve or disapprove of the President鈥檚 job performance are added in, Obama still comes up short 鈥� 53 percent disapprove to 44 percent approve.

True, there鈥檚 a strong partisan element to this with Republicans more intense in their disapproval 鈥� 75 percent 鈥渟trongly disapprove鈥� of the way he鈥檚 handling his job as president.

But Democrats鈥� enthusiasm for Obama has waned considerably since that first honeymoon summer of 2009, with strong approval dropping from 65 percent back then to 38 percent today. Among independents, intensity of views has been more consistent over time, but it鈥檚 still not great news for Obama today: 54-39 percent disapprove/approve.

Looking at specific issues or presidential responsibilities 鈥� particularly at a time when dangerous situations around the world (Ukraine, Iraq/Syria) seem to be escalating 鈥� gives similar and perhaps more urgent results.

鈥淥bama鈥檚 approach to foreign policy continues to be viewed as not tough enough,鈥� the Pew Research Center this past week. 鈥淔ifty-four percent say Obama is not tough enough in his approach on foreign policy and national security issues, while 36 percent say his approach is about right and just 3 percent say he is too tough.鈥�

Obama did himself no favors the other day when he remarked to reporters that 鈥渨e don鈥檛 have a strategy yet鈥� for confronting the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq and Syria.

鈥淲hile the White House went into damage-control mode, emphasizing that it was a reference to the lack of聽decisions聽about increasing military action in Iraq and/or Syria and not a lack of a broader strategy there, the damage was already done,鈥� writes Aaron Blake in the Washington Post鈥檚 political blog 鈥淭he Fix.鈥�

鈥淎s with all gaffes, the worst ones are the ones that confirm people's preexisting suspicions or fit into an easy narrative,鈥� Blake writes.聽鈥淭hat's why 鈥�47 percent鈥� stung Mitt Romney so much, and it's why 鈥榙on't have a strategy鈥� hurts Obama today.

It certainly gave a major opening for Republicans like Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, two of the Senate鈥檚 most prominent hawks.

Confronting the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq and Syria, McCain and Graham wrote in The New York Times the other day, 鈥渞equires a comprehensive strategy, presidential leadership and a far greater sense of urgency.鈥�

But some prominent Democrats also are urging Obama to be more vigorous in dealing with the Islamic State.

Speaking on NBC鈥檚 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� Sunday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D) of California, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, 鈥淚鈥檝e learned one thing about this president, and that is he鈥檚 very cautious. Maybe, in this instance, too cautious.鈥�

In their New York Times op-ed column, McCain and Graham acknowledged that Americans are 鈥渨ar-weary鈥� after 10-plus years in Iraq and Afghanistan.鈥�

Recent polls confirm this. Pew found last month that most Americans 鈥� 55-39 percent 鈥� don鈥檛 think the United States has a responsibility to 鈥渄o something about the violence in Iraq.鈥�

No doubt that鈥檚 a key reason why Obama is being cautious and deliberate in confronting the Islamic State.