This is not a political blog, but politics affects who sits in the Senate, and who sits in the Senate affects what kind of federal judges and Supreme Court Justices will be confirmed.  This in turn affects, among many other things, what sort of gun rights we have (McDonald) and what the limits of sentencing are under the Eighth Amendment (Graham). 

Thus today's Gallup poll is worth noting.  It reports,

Thirty-eight percent of independents approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as president, the first time independent approval of Obama has dropped below 40% in a Gallup Daily tracking weekly aggregate. Meanwhile, Obama maintains the support of 81% of Democrats, and his job approval among Republicans remains low, at 12%.  *  *  *

Over the past year, Obama has lost support among all party groups, though the decline has been steeper among independents than among Republicans or Democrats. Today's 38% approval rating among independents is 18 percentage points lower than the 56% found July 6-12, 2009. During the same period, his support has fallen nine points among Democrats (from 90% to 81%) and eight points among Republicans (from 20% to 12%).

 

President Obama, of course, won with an overall majority of 53% by taking the independent vote and increasing that part of the electorate represented by young and minority voters.  But with those voters historically showing up at low levels for off-year elections, and with the independents fleeing Obama in droves, the message is clear:  Either such nominees as Goodwin Liu and Robert ("sadism is a mitigating factor") Chatigny get confirmed in the next six months, or not at all.