Just one other note about Smith's Politico article about independent voters “deserting” Obama. The money quote from the piece was this one:

“This is a huge sea change that is playing itself out in American politics,” said Democratic pollster Doug Schoen. “Independents who had become effectively operational Democrats in 2006 and 2008 are now up for grabs and are trending Republican.

”They're saying, 'Costing too much, no results, see the downside, not sure of the upside,'" he said.

Wow, a Democratic pollster completely agreed with Politico's premise that independents were fleeing Obama. The trend must be legit, right? Well, not exactly. There's some interesting background regarding Schoen and Obama polling; context Smith deftly ignored in his piece.

Back in March, Schoen made a big Beltway splash when he teamed up with the GOP's favorite pollster, Scott Rasmussen, and wrote an opinion piece for the conservative WSJ headlined:

Obama's Poll Numbers are Falling to Earth

Schoen was quite clear: Obama's job approval ratings were falling. The problem was that in the weeks and months that followed that declaration, Obama's job approval rating went up, which obviously raised doubts about Schoen's “detailed look” at the new president's polling numbers.

But now Schoen is back in Politico hyping what he sees as a major shift away from Obama. You mean sorta like the one Schoen misread back in March?