If by "polarizing" you mean "popular" ...

There is a meme being pushed by the GOP and the Right that President Barack Obama is "the most polarizing president" we've had in a long time.

Really?

To the polls we go ...

So, let’s add it all up.

• Over 60% of the American people currently approve of Obama – 10% more than approved of either Bush I or Bush II at this point.

• Republican Party identification has shrunk substantially and the Party’s remaining supporters have become more intensely partisan. Nonetheless, even so, over one-quarter – 27% of these hard-core Republicans still approve of Obama.

• And 57-60% - a solid, commanding majority -- of independents approve of him.

So, Let’s all send Gerson a message: “Hey, Mike, cut out the histrionics. Blow your nose, put away the silly polka-dot hanky and stop the sanctimonious blubbering about Obama causing partisan division. The Oscars are over.

America isn’t divided – it’s solidly behind Obama.

And Chuck Todd and the others over at FirstRead chime in:

Polar opposites:

A lot has been made recently about that new Pew poll showing Obama to have the largest gap in partisan approval among recent presidents in their first year in office: 88% of Democrats approve of Obama's job, while just 27% of Republicans say the same thing. But here are a couple of things to consider:

One, the Republican Party is more conservative now, and its moderates are now sitting in the independent category now (the Pew poll has Obama’s approval among independents at 57%).

Two, Obama is still approved by one in four Republicans.

When that number gets into the teens or single digits, then the "P" word -- polarization -- can fairly be used.

For example, in our January 2009 NBC/WSJ poll, right before he left office, just 6%
of Democrats approved of George W. Bush’s job.

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