What's behind the improving polling results for President Obama?

By Richard K. Barry

President Obama hasn't had a lot of good polling news lately, but things might be changing.

According to a new poll by Quinnipiac University, Obama's approval / disapproval rating is running almost even nationally, up from a negative 41-55 split just a month ago. And perhaps even more important, his matchup numbers with potential GOP opponents is stronger as well.

As TPM reports:

President Barack Obama seems to be improving in voters' eyes almost across-the-board," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in a release. "He scores big gains among the group with whom he has had the most problems - whites and men. Women also shift from a five-point negative to a four-point positive."

He also leads all GOP challengers outside the poll's margin of error, beating Romney by a 47-42 margin and Perry by a 52-36 margin, and leading Cain and Gingrich by double digits.

TPM speculates that the improvement may have something to do with Obama's "heavy travel schedule" of the past month, during which he promoted his "major jobs package" in key swing states in the Midwest, South, and Mountain West:

When Congress stalled on the jobs package, the President moved on to “We Can’t Wait,” a series of executive orders that he says will help alleviate some of the economic hardship, from new rules on foreclosures to helping with student loan debt.

Okay, that could be a part of it. It's also true that the more America sees of the clowns running for the GOP nomination, the less impressed they are likely to be. Perhaps the Occupy Wall Street income inequality message is starting to resonate with more and more people. Maybe the President's foreign policy success in Libya is part of it -- or some not totally discouraging recent job numbers. Hard to say.

Whatever it is, it's good news for the Democrats, and I'm sure David Plouffe and company will take it. (If you don't know, Plouffe was the chief campaign manager for Obama in 2008, and he's back on the job. That's him pictured above).

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)