50 State Approval

Gallup has its 50 state approval numbers out for 2009.

There were seven states that Barack Obama won where his approval has slipped below 56%. Three of them are pretty darn predictable- North Carolina, Indiana, and Ohio- all of which saw extremely close races in 2008.

Another three of them though are Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada which Obama won by commanding margins of anywhere from 9-15 points. That's yet another clear piece of evidence of a Mountain West problem for him and Democrats at large, and it's being manifested in Harry Reid and Michael Bennet's status as two of the four most vulnerable incumbent Senators. I really hope we get around to polling New Mexico soon and see what impact all of this is having on the Governor's race there.

I still think the long term demographic trends in that region will make it more Democratic over time- but declarations of 'permanent' blue status after the 2008 election were a little premature.

The seventh state Obama won where he's under 56% is New Hampshire, which may help to explain why Paul Hodes is having so much trouble.