It appears as if the Republican smear campaign -- combining neo-McCarthyite tactics and, you know, lying -- is working. On Republicans.
The latest Gallup poll shows that the president's approval rating has gone up in every ideological category except among moderate Republicans and conservative Republicans.
Now, this is just a theory. I don't have any internals indicating that the lies and red-baiting tactics are working, but if there were a broader substantive problem with the Obama presidency, surely the independents and conservative Democrats would be sliding as well. In fact, the Democratic and independent categories all showed a more or less equal gain across the board.