Lacking liberals' support, Obama approval rating down

Thirteen percent of Americans feel the president isn't liberal enough, driving approval down

Recent polling for President Obama reveals that a majority of Americans disapprove of his job performance.

45 percent of Americans believe the president is doing a fine job, while 54 percent believe that the president's handling of the country has been poor.

So does this mean that Obama is set to lose his re-election bid come 2012? Don't go there yet: there's reason to be concerned, but further reading into the polling data reveals something that many news outlets forget to mention.

The poll went beyond the traditional questioning and asked further of respondents WHY they disapproved of the president's job performance. A full 38 percent of the population felt that the president was "too liberal" in his decision-making process. 13 percent believed that he "wasn't liberal enough."

Combined with the number of people who believe the president is doing just fine, the number of people who like the president's policies or believe they should be more liberal jumps to 57 percent, while again 38 percent believe he's too liberal.

With numbers like those, Obama's only true concern is growing apathy from his base. If he cannot motivate that 13 percent to come out to support him at the polling booths, then he's going to face some problems, especially if the GOP fields a moderate option for voters. The more conservative the candidate that Obama faces will be, the easier it will be for the president to win re-election; but Obama also faces a challenge of keeping his base happy with his numerous compromises he's made over the years with Republican lawmakers.

It's not an overwhelming obstacle to take on, but it's one that will be necessary if the president hopes to stay in office for another term.