Just two months ago, Obama's approval among independents stood at 49-38 in favor.

What a difference a couple of months makes according to Jonathan Weisman of the Wall Street Journal (via Hot Air ):

New doubts about the president have coincided with new hopes for Republicans, who appeared flattened by the election nearly a year ago.

As the 2010 election cycle heats up, independent voters now favor Republican control of Congress by four percentage points.

"For a party walloped two cycles in a row with independents, I think those are very important stories," said Bill McInturff, a partner at the Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, who conducts the Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll with Democratic pollster Peter Hart.

Allah adds:

His approval rating's flat at 51 percent overall. More anti-statist backlash from the crosstabs: For the first time since 1997, more people say government is doing too many things rather than not doing enough (49/45) and more are worried about the exploding deficit than the need to "boost" the economy with new spending (62/30, up from 58/35 in June). This speaks for itself.

Forget any party approval polls this far out and concentrate on that very last pair of number sets; that should be music to Republican ears. Government should do less and stop the madness with deficit spending sounds to me like the basis for a platform to run on in 2010.

But will the voters believe the GOP has learned its lesson on spending and hand them the reins to get us out of this mess? I hope so but until I see some solid plans to reduce the deficit from Republicans, I am not very optimistic. The difference between a 20 seat gain and 40 seats which will give the GOP a majority may very well hinge on how the voters perceive Republican seriousness in cutting the deficit. Even if things get a lot worse between now and the election, an overturn will not occur unless voters see some tangible gain in throwing the Democrats out.

They already have plenty of reason to vote against Democrats. Now they need a reason to vote FOR Republicans.

Hat Tip: Ed Lasky