A recently released Ciruli Associates poll shows Barack Obama in deep trouble in Colorado, with only 39% of voters approving of his job performance. 53% of Coloradans disapprove of his performance. His reception is even chillier on the Western Slope, where only 32% approve. The poll was conducted December 1-6 with 500 registered voters who either voted in the 2008 election or are newly registered.
Ciruli Associates has been ranked as the 4th most accurate pollster in the country by The New Times' polling guru Nate Silver.
This poll is a bad sign for the President as Colorado has been called one of the most pivotal states to Obama's re-election by strategists from Karl Rove to Obama's campaign manager, Jim Messina.
Colorado's chief prognosticator, Governor Hickenlooper, recently told Reuters in an interview, "Certainly a Republican could easily win here."
Hickenlooper has dipped his toe into the waters of prophesy before, saying in July, Obama "will have a hard time" winning Colorado.
If polls like this continue to come out, "a hard time" may be a vast understatement.