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The majority of Americans remain dissatisfied with the way things are going in the U.S., but the percentage who are satisfied continues to increase. Satisfaction, now at 22%, is higher than at any point since last spring.

Thirteen percent of Americans were satisfied with the state of the nation when President Barack Obama took office in January 2009. This percentage increased to as high as 36% in August 2009 before falling to the lower levels seen since then. As the economy struggled to recover during the past two years, and as the federal government had trouble reaching agreement on the major issues facing the country, satisfaction dropped, to as low as 11% last August and September.

The current results, based on a Feb. 2-5 Gallup poll, find satisfaction up significantly from December after slight increases each of the past two months. The increases are likely due to Americans’ greater optimism about the U.S. economy. The poll included three days of interviewing after the government released its positive employment report on Feb. 3.

22 per cent is nothing to write home about.

Let’s hope it continues to improve.

What are the implications?

Better news for President Obama’s re-election, but the numbers are still low historically. And, as Carly Fiorina just pointed out on Fox News and who will be delivering a speech at CPAC tomorrow, small business growth remains slow, if not stagnant, due to Obama Administration policies – namely taxation and regulation.

President Obama runs slightly ahead of Mitt Romney and dead even with Rick Santorum in Rasmussen Reports’ first Election 2012 look at the key battleground state of Ohio.

A new telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state finds Obama earning 45% support to Romney’s 41%. Ten percent (10%) like some other candidate in the race, and four percent (4%) remain undecided.

Very interesting.

Guess there goes Romney’s electability argument – particularly with the important key battleground state of Ohio.

A record-low 10% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, down from 13% in January and the previous low of 11%, recorded in December 2011. Eighty-six percent disapprove of Congress, tying the record high for disapproval set in December.

The new-low 10% approval rating is based on a Gallup survey conducted Feb. 2-5, about two weeks after President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address and the reconvening of the U.S. House and Senate.

Congressional approval averaged 17% for all of 2011. The highest reading last year was 24% in May. More broadly, Gallup’s highest approval rating for Congress is 84% in October 2001, a month after the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.

Not really a surprise.

The American economy is not good and all incumbents are going to get a drubbing come November.

Voters are disenchanted with the direction of the country and the POLS are going to pay the price

This will likely change tomorrow after Republicans have a chance to digest last night’s wins by Santorum.

But, will Rick Santorum become the anti-Romney and will Romney start attacking him in ads?

Democrats have lost their solid political party affiliation advantage in 18 states since 2008, while Republicans have gained a solid advantage in 6 states. A total of 17 states were either solidly Republican or leaning Republican in their residents’ party affiliation in 2011, up from 10 in 2010 and 5 in 2008. Meanwhile, 19 states including the District of Columbia showed a solid or leaning Democratic orientation, down from 23 in 2010 and 36 in 2008. The remaining 15 states were relatively balanced politically, with neither party having a clear advantage.

Here is the chart:

Remember in 2008 after the Obama victory when the LEFT blogs and MSM sites were crowing that the Republican Party had become merely a “regional” party?

Uh, well look again.

Looks to me that the same can be said of the Democratic Party today. New York, Illinois and California and their large urban populations are the major portions of the 2012 Democratic Party – hardly a majority in America.

A more extensive chart of state by state data is here.

So, Republicans cheer up!

The GOP controls the House and may very well win control of the U.S. Senate in November.

As for the Presidency, the race may be tough, especially with an improving economy, but the gains made since 2008 have been staggering. Obama and the Democrats WILL have a race on their hands this summer and fall.

In the last four years, the political leanings of Americans have increasingly moved toward the Republican Party after shifting decidedly Democratic between 2005 and 2008. In 2008, Democrats had one of the largest advantages in party affiliation they have had in the last 20 years, likely because of the unpopularity of President George W. Bush in the latter years of his presidency. Prior to that, the parties were more evenly balanced. So the movement away from the Democratic Party may just be a return to a more normal state of political affairs from an unusual situation, rather than a rejection of the Democrats per se.

The net result of the movement is that the nation looks to be essentially even in terms of its party loyalties headed into a presidential election year. Clearly, President Obama faces a much less favorable environment as he seeks a second term in office than he did when he was elected president.

U.S. unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, increased slightly to 8.6% in January from 8.5% in December, but was down from 9.9% in January a year ago.

And underemployment surged:

Underemployment, a measure that combines the percentage of workers who are unemployed with the percentage working part time but wanting full-time work, surged to 18.7% in January. This is a worsening from the 18.3% of December but is still below the 19.0% of a year ago

Well, there has been a deterioration and not any dramatic improvement since the first of the year.

What does this mean?

No bragging rights for the Obama Administration that the economy,including unemployment is making a dramatic recovery, but no doom and gloom about accelerating unemployment either.

Stay tuned as the government will release probably improving numbers tomorrow.

Mitt Romney has moved ahead of Newt Gingrich in national Republican registered voters’ preferences for the 2012 GOP nomination, 31% to 26%, according to Gallup Daily tracking from Jan. 27-31. This includes one night of interviewing that may partly reflect Republicans’ reactions to Romney’s victory in the Jan. 31 Florida Republican primary.

Newt Gingrich will have to survive the month of February with small gains – perhaps with a win in Arizona. The proportional contests will not lead to a “real”or insurrmountable delegate lead for Mitt Romney.

As long as Newt’s money holds out, he can wait until later Southern GOP primary elections and hope that Rick Santorum drops out, so he can consolidate the anti-Romney more conservative vote.