This piece of political history continues to bedevil Obama-haters who are desperate to declare that Obama's first year in office has been an historic failure. The trouble is that Obama's first year in office looks an awful lot like Ronald Reagan's, who conservatives hold up as the symbol of all that's right and true (and successful!) about a presidency.

From Rove's WSJ column today [emphasis added]:

Barack Obama has won a place in history with the worst ratings of any president at the end of his first year: 49% approve and 46% disapprove of his job performance in the latest USA Today/Gallup Poll.

From the AP, Dec. 20, 1981:

The public's confidence in the economy and opinion of President Reagan's performance remain near their lowest levels since he took office, according to the latest Associated Press-NBC News poll.

The nationwide poll, of 1,602 adults telephoned Dec. 14-15 in a scientific random sampling, said 48 percent think Reagan is doing a good or excellent job as president. Last month, the president's approval rating was 46 percent, his lowest since it peaked at 66 percent last spring.

UPDATED: Isn't there something wonderfully ironic about Karl Rove, who steered the Bush administration to polling depths not seen in this country in nearly a century, now chastising Obama about his 49 percent job approval rating; a mark that Bush couldn't achieve for the final 46 months of his presidency?