Republican sage Karl Rove offered doomsday predictions for Santorum in a new Wall Street Journal column out today. According to Rove, Santorum blew his opportunity after losing to Romney in Michigan and will end as a contender if he loses Ohio on Super Tuesday:
"Unforced errors played a role. Mr. Santorum's crude dismissal of John F. Kennedy's famous 1960 speech advocating the strict separation of church and state didn't come across well. Nor did his suggestion that wanting everyone to attend college is snobbish. And his robocalls inviting Democrats to crash the GOP contest boomeranged…...Mr. Santorum's candidacy will realistically be at an end if he loses the Buckeye State, though he could linger for weeks. Even a win leaves him on life support unless he can also best Mr. Romney in Tuesday's Southern contests, coming in first or second with Mr. Romney trailing in second or third place."
Rove's critique crossed party lines, calling Team Obama "downright cocky." He warned, "Mr. Obama's latest Gallup job approval rating is 43%; no president has ever been re-elected with such low job approval" and "a consumer confidence at 75 points." He reminded readers even George W. Bush had better numbers in 2004.
NBC's Domenico Montanaro analyzed Obama's approval ratings in a more positive light. The president has reached nearly one-year high Voter Confidence Index. Attributions to the improved numbers include prospects of a stronger economy and the declining unemployment rate. Currently Obama’s Voter Confidence Index is -21, not far off from George W. Bush's -11 just one month before he secured presidency for another term.