Approval ratings based on….what?

He’s been on vacation for two weeks in Hawaii, out of reach of mainstream media who were confined to the other side of the island. The public hasn’t heard from Obama since his press conferences announcing his cabinet picks, and even then the were carefully controlled so the press had no chance to really question him.

So……on what are the pundits basing a public opinon poll of Obama’s leadership skills?

A national poll suggests that three-quarters of the public thinks President-elect Barack Obama is a strong and decisive leader, the highest marks for a president-elect on that characteristic in nearly three decades.

But he hasn’t done anything yet.

“The public’s rating of his leadership skills is already as high as George W. Bush’s was after 9/11 and easily beats the numbers that both Bush and Bill Clinton got at the start of their first terms in office.”

I want him to succeed, too. But on what are they basing this opinion poll?! He doesn’t have leadership skills yet. They are projecting on him what they hope for.

Eight in ten Americans said Obama inspires confidence, can get things done and is tough enough to be president, three characteristics Americans look for in a leader and the three qualities on which Obama got his highest scores.

He also gets higher marks than Bush did in 2001 on honesty, values, issues, management abilities and compassion.

Great. Let’s re-visit this seriously after he has taken office and begun to make some decisions. Becuase there’s no down time here. The rubber meets the road right now, and we want to know how he will respond. All goodwill currency he bought in the campaign season is cashed in as soon as he takes office.