I am Not A Big Fan But A 50% Rating......

......there are probably other political leaders who would kill, and probably are, for that kind of support.

Rough road ahead for Obama

By ANDREW HANON

It's official. The honeymoon is over.

President Barack Obama recently marked his 200th day in office by watching his approval ratings sink to the lowest they've ever been.

In the past month, American voters' overall approval of their Commander In Chief has plummeted from 57% to 50%.

But that, according to pundits everywhere, simply makes Obama human. In fact, Richard Nixon and George W. Bush had similar ratings a half-year into their presidencies.

The expectations placed on Obama during last year's election campaign were messianic.

It was as if the entire world expected him to wave his wand and make the recession, Mideast crisis and global warming all vanish.

Americans seemed to expect Obama to reform their health system, eliminate the deficit and shut down Guantanamo by lunchtime on his first day in office.

In all likelihood, his declining approval ratings reflect reality setting in among the U.S. electorate.

Obama has had some significant successes in his first months in office, even if they don't compare to parting seas or turning water into wine.

His first Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, sailed through the often-brutal confirmation process relatively unscathed.

He and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have made huge steps in rebuilding America's international credibility after eight disastrous years under George Bush.

He's also shifted the U.S. military's focus away from Iraq and towards Afghanistan, where it should have been in the first place.

But Obama's most difficult tasks -- getting the economy and government finances back on track, and reforming the U.S. health-care system -- lie ahead.

The biggest knock against Obama is that on the tough issues he's been afraid to get his hands dirty. He's tried to stay above the daily fray, but without his leadership, major initiatives like health-care reform are at risk of bogging down in partisan squabbling.

Now that the honeymoon's over, it's time for the president to roll up his sleeves and get on with the heavy lifting.

If his nose gets bloodied along the way, it'll only reinforce the notion that he's human.