Newsweek's Jonathan Alter was on the Today show this morning to promote his new book about President Obama. Asked about Mr. Obama's approval rating, Mr. Alter replied: "It's this fascinating gap that we also saw with Ronald Reagan. The policies are not tremendously popular but the president remains well respected. I think for Obama the key is authenticity, he just doesn't seem like a phony....He's got a kind of psychological health to him, and even if you don't like what he's doing, you have to respect the man, he brings a thoughtfulness to the process."
For me the impression of Mr. Obama as authentic and non-phony has been eroded by all the flip-flops. Sometimes it's hard even for psychologists to assess someone's psychological health, let alone a newsmagazine reporter.