Obama approval ratings

Two new polls show the President's approval ratings over 50% and the highest they've been in over a year.  The change has not come from Democrats or Republicans; they love or hate him about as much as they have in the past.  The change is with independents where his approval is up 15%.

There's no question this is in response to his response to the Tucson shooting.  He was decidedly cool, calm and non-partisan which appeals to independents.

Good for him.  I've never been terribly concerned about his reelection and while two years is eternity +1 in politics, his in pretty good shape.

I wish, however, he hadn't been quite so "presidential."  This incident screams for attention that it will not get:

• Gun control - A person kicked out of college for being mentally disturbed should not be able to get a gun... or at the very least there should be some sort of check.  Also, why should any normal, law-abiding citizen be able to purchase a gun with a rapid-fire clip?
• Treatment of the mentally ill - Many in the US can't pay for treatment for physical illnesses and many more cannot pay for treating mental illness.  

If Obama were the partisan I wish he was he'd hit these two topics head on.  If we can't talk about them now we'll never be able to talk about them.  For too long my party has seen both of these topics as political losers... and they are right:  The majority of the country does not agree with us...  But that's because we haven't tried to argue our side in at least 15 years.

In oh, so many ways Obama has turned into Clinton 2.0.  More, I think, than Hillary would have.