Obama approval rating 50% and falling!

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Has Obama-mania reached its limit?

Fri Mar 27, 3:56 pm ET

It's obvious the camera loves President Barack Obama. But are American audiences

growing tired of his seemingly ubiquitous TV appearances?

This week alone, the president was on " 60 Minutes, " held a prime-time press

conference (networks reluctantly bumped " American Idol " and " The Biggest Loser "

to make room for it), and answered viewer questions at his first-ever online

town hall meeting. And all this is in addition to ESPN's sporadic updates on

how his NCAA bracket is doing.

The New York Times columnist Gail put it this way:

" …there appear to be only two constants in our ever-changing world. One is that

Barack Obama is going to be on television every day forever. No venue is too

strange. Soon, he'll be on 'Dancing With the Stars' ('And now, doing the Health

Care, Energy and Education tango ...') or delivering the weather report. ('Here

we see a wave of systemic change, moving across the nation ...') "

Others criticize President Obama, known for his fiery orations, for " being

boring " and " dull " . LA Times blogger Malcolm likened Obama's Tuesday

night primetime presser to a lackluster college lecture:

" Professor Barack Obama showed up. And if you remember one of those required

college lecture courses in the large auditorium at 8:10 a.m., listening to a

droning don, and how it felt, slumped in the cushy seats having skipped

breakfast for an extra 13 minutes of ZZZZs. "

The TV ratings seem to echo the feelings of those less-than-enthused critics.

According to Nielsen, Obama's much hyped prime-time appearance attracted 40

million viewers, down 18% from his February 9 press conference and down 23% from

his February 24 address to Congress.

But there are those who defend the president's pervasive media strategy, saying

his constant presence is reassuring to the American public. White House Chief of

Staff Rahm Emanuel dismissed the overexposure concern on Larry King Live earlier

this week, noting that in this time of economic crisis, Americans expect and

need a president who will talk to them and walk them through his thinking.

U.S. News and World Report columnist Mashek similary echoed Emanuel's

sentiment:

" Obama may be doing on TV what President Roosevelt did on radio during the

Depression of the 1930s. FDR's fireside chats were designed to calm the fears of

the public and assure listeners that help was on the way with his New Deal

programs. " Similarly, Obama may be using his proven ability on TV to assure

voters that his stimulus plan and budget will bring the economy back to life. "

Even Canada is defending our president's newly minted " media hound " status. Our

friendly neighbor to the north's The Globe and Mail postulates that Obama simply

" has no choice " :

" With the opposition this intense on both sides, Mr. Obama clearly believes this

is the time to cash in his goodwill cheque with the American public. If he can

mobilize voters in support of his budget and economic rescue plan, his

administration will be firmly in charge of the agenda. If he fails, the goodwill

will evaporate regardless. "

But despite all the online chatter surrounding the Obama media blitz, what does

the general population think? According to a disputed Zogby poll, the

president's approval rating has dropped this week to 50%, " with his disapproval

numbers rising to that same level. " However, Rasmussen's daily tracking poll

shows the president enjoying a 56% approval rating, and Gallup and CBS show a

65% and 64% approval rating respectively.

No matter what the American public may think and no matter how his ratings may

rise and fall, we're sure we will continue to see more of our leader on the

small screen.

Especially if UNC manages to go all the way.