The kids are alright.

I wish more of their elders had as much sense. Via Political Wire...

A new national poll by Harvard's Institute of Politics finds 58% of America's 18-29 year-olds approve of President Obama's job performance generally but disapprove of his handling of specific issues including the economy (52% disapprove), health care (52% disapprove) and Afghanistan (55% disapprove).

I, too, "disapprove" of President Obama's handling of specific issues. I wish his economic program had started with a greater emphasis on job creation. I wish his health care program had started with a push for single payer. I wish the withdrawal from Afghanistan had started six months ago rather than eighteen months from now.

Best as I recall, though, there wasn't a candidate on the November ballot who offered any of those positions. At least this administration has actually noticed that there's an unemployment problem and is taking some steps to directly address it. At least there's some movement toward a more comprehensive and accessible health insurance system. At least there's some acknowledgement that wars have to end someday. That's all progress that, in general, I approve of.

Of course, there's a group of folks out there who disagree with the President on each of those issues because they think he's going too far in every instance. That's the major problem with "approve/disapprove" polling. It doesn't mean anything unless you know why.

At any rate, this is pretty encouraging news. I imagine that a poll of 68-79 year olds might produce a different result, but a lot of those folks are going to be somewhat less engaged a couple of years or so out than the youngsters. There's still reason for hope.