Fifty-one percent of Americans disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as president — a new record for the incumbent administration. For the first time since he took office, a majority of registered voters disapprove of Obama’s job performance. Just 42% of Americans can say they approve of the president. That’s a significant milestone.

I guess this is what happens when you answer concerns about the unemployment rate with promises to reform health care. Or when you answer concerns about the deficit with record-level spending and promises to continue unsustainable budgets well into the future. Or when you answer concerns about personal income levels with promises to raise household energy costs in the name of stopping climate change.

People begin to think your priorities are misplaced, that you are emotionally and intellectually disconnected with mainstream America, that you are oblivious to reality. They see you for what you are: A hack politician beholden to special interests rather than a responsive leader of the country. And then they come down against your administration and its agenda.