The Incredible Shrinking Democrats

Is it any wonder Barack Obama is reduced to conference calls with extremist bloggers? The public is tired of him already. Just wait until we get to the 2010 midterms and we have a national referendum on him, Reid and Pelosi. It could get ugly.

Trust in President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies to identify the right solutions to problems facing the country has dropped off significantly since March, according to a new Public Strategies Inc./POLITICO poll.

Just as Obama intensifies his efforts to fulfill a campaign promise and reach an agreement with Congress on health care reform, the number of Americans who say they trust the president has fallen from 66 percent to 54 percent. At the same time, the percentage of those who say they do not trust the president has jumped from 31 to 42.

The president’s party has taken a similar hit since the last Public Trust Monitor poll, with only 42 percent of respondents saying that they trust the Democratic Party, compared with 52 percent who do not. The party’s numbers are nearly the inverse of March’s survey, in which 52 percent said they trusted Democrats and 42 percent did not.

Meanwhile, in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, Governor Ed Rendell has dropped to his lowest approval ever, according to a Quinnipiac poll.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's job approval rating has shrunk to its lowest level ever, 39 - 53 percent negative, and voters see him as most responsible for the state's budget mess. Voters also reject 63 - 33 percent the Governor's call to raise the state income tax temporarily to balance the budget, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

A total of 90 percent of Pennsylvania voters think the inability of the Governor and State Legislature to come up with a budget by the June 30 deadline is a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem, the independent Quinnipiac University poll finds.

Two things can be learned from these numbers: Democrats cannot resist calling for more taxes and the public is sick of being taxed to death.

May the Democrats proceed with more taxes at their own peril. They can't say they haven't been warned.

Some call this behavior suicidal.