What a difference six months make. President Barack Obama and other members of his administration have a new glide in their stride based upon recent national and foreign policy successes. These include the death of Osama bin Laden and the positive ripple effect on the overall economy of the turnarounds by General Motors and Chrysler. Obama staffers may even gloat a bit as they recall that the bailout succeeded despite Republican opposition. (Related: Obama's Poll Numbers Hit Record High)

True, there is ongoing anxiety among citizens over the economy’s slow growth, continued high unemployment and the nation’s direction, but according to an Associated Press article, the president is benefitting from “the absence of negatives. The economy, while lethargic, is growing. The private sector is creating jobs.”

The attendant groundswell of optimism about the president even drew the following response from one GOP pollster, Wes Anderson. He is quoted in the AP article as saying that "It is likely [Obama] will be re-elected in my opinion."

There are also other factors that bolster the Obama team. These include the fact that the Republican budget plan has gained scant traction with voters, gas prices have dropped as people get ready to go on vacation and the string of natural events that have hit parts of the nation recently are not full-blown disasters.

Considering the above, it is not surprising polls show that citizens not only favor President Obama, but also like him, which bodes well for his re-election.

Fergus Cullen, the former New Hampshire GOP chairman, told the Associated Press that "Centrist voters and the ones who decide elections are still fundamentally rooting for the guy. People who don't view politics in ideological terms give him the benefit of the doubt, and that is an incredible political asset to have."

(Photo: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)