Obamacare and Character

By CHARLES M. BLOW, NYT

The president’s job approval numbers have hit new lows. That’s actually not the worst news in a new round of polling. The worst news — or what the White House should find most worrisome — is that the president’s character has taken a hit.

For most of the Obama presidency, the majority of Americans have viewed many of his character traits positively, even if they didn’t agree with his politics.

They may have disapproved of his vision for the country and his ability to manage it, but they often simultaneously said that they thought him honest and trustworthy and a strong and decisive leader.

It was a way for some of his most vociferous detractors to say: It’s not personal; it’s political. It’s the Washington version of damning with faint praise.

(More here.)