We pretty much knew this, but itโ€™s nice to see new numbers confirming the trend: โ€œPresident Barack Obamaโ€™s swing through Miami raised funds for his party on Monday but, according to a new Sunshine State News Poll, his policies raise deep distrust among Floridians and threaten to drag Democratic candidates down. โ€œHis 39/54 job approval is a harbinger of whatโ€™s coming in November, which is to say a swing back to the GOP,โ€ predicted pollster Jim Lee.โ€ Given that Obamaโ€™s job approval in Florida is actually worse than his nationwide average (45/48, according to realclearpolitics.com), it demonstrates that the political environment has really soured in Florida for the Democrats,โ€ said Lee, president of Voter Survey Service, which was commissioned by Sunshine State News to conduct the poll Oct. 6-10.โ€

Itโ€™s a good sample, size, too: โ€œThe Sunshine State News Poll, which surveyed 1,151 likely voters across Florida, indicated that Obamaโ€™s high negative ratings arenโ€™t just a millstone around the necks of Democratic candidates this fall, but also threaten to deep-six independent Senate hopeful Charlie Crist.Among independent voters, Obamaโ€™s job approval rating is upside down at 32/55 approve/disapprove.โ€This explains why (Republican Marco) Rubio is competitive with Crist even among independents (Rubio 40 percent, Crist 38 percent, Democrat Kendrick Meek 16 percent),โ€ Lee said.โ€

Actually, what jumps out in that poll is that Meek the Democrat, allegedly a major party candidate, is at 16 percent among independents.