Why Obama's approval is sinking

I truly hate when the internets make me talk about polling but I've seen this pushed for long enough that it's worth addressing. The usual suspects are harping on their tired refrain about Obama's failure to reach out to GOPers. That's not the reason. Nobody outside the Beltway bubble gives a flying leap about whether Obama makes nice with the crackpots. Rather the opposite. It's because instead of standing firm on the platform he won the election on, he's back to trying to cajole concessions by giving into their demands.

Greg Sargent, in an especially good morning round-up, nails down Obama's real problem in this one graf:

To summarize: People say they agree with the GOP about spending cuts in the abstract. But when you get specific, solid majorities disapprove of the sequester cuts and think they’ll harm the economy — rejecting the conservative argument about the relationship between the economy and spending cuts. Solid majorities oppose replacing the sequester cuts with cuts to major social programs the poor and elderly rely upon — rejecting the conservative argument about the safety net. (In fairness, Obama is also prepared to cut entitlement benefits as part of a grand bargain, but more judiciously.) Solid majorities support asking for more revenues from the rich, rather than cutting social programs, to replace the cuts — rejecting the conservative argument about taxes.

Bold is mine and let's review that sentence again. "In fairness, Obama is also prepared to cut entitlement benefits as part of a grand bargain, but more judiciously."

Judicious or not, this is at the core of Obama's sinking approval. It breaks a very specific promise he made on the campaign trail. I would go as far as to say it was the most important promise he made. The mainly unengaged voters aren't following the nuance. They don't care about grand bargains. All they hear is "Social Security cuts" and all they feel is betrayed in their trust.