The decline in Mr. Obama’s support over the past year has been across the board, with the largest decreases being among whites, older voters, political independents and men.

A Year After Honeymoon Ends, Whites, Men and Independents Desert Obama

Wednesday, July 21, 2010
By Peter Brown
Wall Street Journal


Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, is a former White House correspondent with two decades of experience covering Washington government and politics. Click here for Mr. Brown’s full bio.

It was a year ago this month that President Barack Obama began losing voters. In the 12 months since, he has had legislative victories that appear – especially in the case of health care – to have cost him large amounts of both political capital and political support.


British Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barack Obama hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House Tuesday.(Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

A comparison of the public’s views of him then and now tells us a great deal about the shape of American politics and how difficult it is for any president, even one as politically gifted as Barack Obama, to surmount the nation’s deep political and ideological divisions.

Mr. Obama won a surprisingly easy victory in 2008, carrying 53% of the popular vote and 365 electoral votes – along with Bill Clinton in 1996, the biggest Democratic presidential win since Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 landslide.

Candidate Obama promised “change we can believe in,â€