Entrenched economic despair, chaos on Wall Street, the S&P downgrade, and Democratic disgruntlement over the debt-ceiling deal, yet somehow only now for the first time is he in the outskirts of Bushville with\u00a0sub-40% approval<\/a>. The way we\u2019re going, I half-expect the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man to show up tomorrow in Manhattan \u2014 and even that probably wouldn\u2019t bump The One down below 35%. Even so, notes\u00a0Philip Klein<\/a>, \u201cNo president since Harry Truman has been reelected with approval ratings this low, this late into his first term.\u201d Hmmmm.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no partisan breakdown at Gallup but my hunch is that heart-achy Democrats are driving this. Corroborating evidence\u00a0from CNN<\/a>:<\/p>\n Seven in 10 Democrats say they\u2019d like to see Obama as their party\u2019s presidential nominee next year.<\/p>\n That figure may seem promising, but support for Obama\u2019s re-nomination has\u00a0fallen 11 percentage points since June<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Despite the decline, history is on Obama\u2019s side. \u201cIn 1994, only 57% of Democrats wanted the party to renominate Bill Clinton, and he went on to win the nomination and a second term two years later,\u201d said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n His previous low among Dems on that question was 73% right before the midterms last year. More corroborating evidence:\u00a0The Times<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the AP<\/a>\u00a0each have stories out today about Obama launching a messaging offensive against the GOP, especially on the economy, which will firm up support among his base even if it doesn\u2019t do jack to create new jobs. Watch his weekly message below for a taste; it\u2019s a rehash of his speech in Michigan a few days ago\u00a0questioning the patriotism<\/a>\u00a0of certain nefarious unnamed characters in Congress who he claims are putting partisan aims ahead of the country\u2019s welfare. Luckily for us, The One would\u00a0never let electoral goals dictate hard policy choices<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fun fact: While news of the new Gallup numbers was breaking this morning, lifelike talking-points robot Debbie Wasserman-Schultz was on CBS insisting that Obama\u2019s in \u201cremarkably good shape\u201d politically.\u00a0No foolin\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n