In the latest Zogby poll, about which Allah says simply “oh my,” President Obama’s approval rating is down to 45%, with 50% disapproving his job performance.

Ok, we can write that one off to a right-wing polling organization, probably directed by the RNC and funded by health insurance conglomerates.

But when the venerably suck-up Washington Post notes the luster is off the icon then it’s time to piss on the fire and call in the dogs, boys, because this national swoon is ovah.

Among all Americans, 49 percent now express confidence that Obama will make the right decisions for the country, down from 60 percent at the 100-day mark in his presidency…As challenges to Obama’s initiatives have mounted over the summer, pessimism in the nation’s direction has risen: Fifty-five percent see things as pretty seriously on the wrong track, up from 48 percent in April.

(I already sent a thank you note for the helpful explanation that the pesky “challenges” are to blame for the sharp uptick in pessimism, so you can put down your pen.)

The Post/ABC poll found slightly better results for the President than Zogby, but in a trend that still evokes images of giant slalom or – less metaphorically – the Hindenburg.

The president’s overall approval rating stands at 57 percent, 12 points lower than its April peak, as disapproval has ticked up to 40 percent, its highest yet.

Of course, we can’t let those depressing numbers overshadow the good news, reported appropriately in the fourth paragraph of a 24-paragraph story:

But there has been a notable increase in optimism about the length of the recession: Half of all Americans expect it to be over within the next 12 months. In February, just 28 percent said the recession would end that rapidly.

In related news, the thousands of Americans who have been subsisting on cat food believe a step up to dog food is right around the corner.

But there is some genuinely positive data regarding the $787 billion down a rat hole “stimulus”:

Obama’s economic stimulus plan has come under attack from Republicans, who say it has failed to bring tangible benefits. But in the poll, almost twice as many say the program has made things better as say it has made things worse (43 percent to 23 percent), with a third saying the plan has had no effect.

Another way to have written that sentence could have been “while 43 percent say the program has made things better, 56 percent say it has either made things worse or has had no effect,” but this is a Democrat administration we’re talking about so it’s important to watch our words.

In case you are distrustful of how the Post is reporting its own poll data, and have some free time from your mob activities today, you can dig into the metrics here.

Oh, that is, only if you are interested in metrics that have nothing to do with the article, because Question 1 and Questions 3-25 are all “held for future release.” Sorry about that. I’m sure the only reason that data is embargoed is because it details the blooming optimism about the future of America’s senior citizens in Obama’s America, such as the greatly anticipated “Hemlock option,” and the Post does not want to burden us with too much good news in one day.