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A new CNN poll of polls shows 64 percent job approval for President Obama..

WASHINGTON (CNN) - How does President Obama compare with his predecessors after nearly 100 days in office?

On his job rating, Obama comes out just a little better. But he really stands out on personal qualities.

CNN's recent poll of polls, taken April 14-21, shows an average of 64 percent job approval for Obama.

According to Gallup polling examining past presidents' job approval, that's similar to where the last six elected presidents stood after 100 days.

Only Ronald Reagan got a slightly higher rating (67 percent). Bill Clinton and the first President Bush were both below 60.

The average for the six recent presidents after 100 days: 61 percent approval. All were in the same general range - between 55 and 67 percent.

They were all elected after the late 1960s, when the great division in American politics emerged. Conservative versus liberal. Red versus blue. Each has taken office with a hard core of supporters and opponents.

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CNN's Larry King asked House speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday if the economy is turning around.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - There is evidence that the country's economic outlook is improving. But you have to look very closely.

CNN's Larry King asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday if the economy is turning around. She said yes. "I do believe it is," she said. "I do believe it is. And I think the American people have confidence that it will." Do they?

The number of Americans who say things are going well in the country has crept up a few points, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll. In December, 20 percent of Americans said things in the country were going "well." Now, 23 percent do.

But let's take a magnifying glass and look more closely. The number who say things are going "pretty badly" has shot up, from 39 percent in December to 51 percent now. The number who say very badly has gone down, from 40 to 26 percent.

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Has public opinion shifted on gun control?

(CNN) - Has public opinion shifted on gun control?

Yes. And in a very surprising way.

Binghamton . . . Pittsburgh . . . Oakland . . . Samson, Alabama . . . Carthage, North Carolina . . . sensational incidents of gun violence all over the country.

Are we seeing an impact on public opinion?

Since 2001, a majority of Americans has favored stricter gun laws. Though support has been trending slightly down. Eight years ago, 54 percent of Americans wanted stricter gun laws compared to 50 percent in 2007, according to a Gallup poll.

And now? A sharp, sudden drop. Only 39 percent of Americans now favor stricter gun laws.

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Will Americans start blaming President Barack Obama for the bad economy?

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Have Americans been prepared for Friday's bad news about the economy? It looks like they have.

They were warned even before President Obama took office.

President-elect Obama said on January 8th. "It is altogether likely that things may get worse before they get better."

They have.

"Our jobs report came out today, and it showed that we had lost 663,000 jobs just this month, which has pushed our unemployment rate to 8.5 percent - the highest in 25 years," the President said today at a news conference in Germany, a few hours after the Labor Department reported the March unemployment report.

Will Americans blame President Obama? Not likely.

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Who is on deck to lead the Republican Party?

(CNN) - It's spring training, when hope springs eternal for the coming season. That's true for baseball players and for political players.

The scouts are out there, eyeballing hot prospects for the next Republican pennant race. Right now it's wide open.

"We don't have one spokesman right now. That's just one of the features of not having either house in Congress or having the White House. You don't have an official place to be heard," former Massachusetts Governor and former GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney told CNN's Larry King recently.

Romney's the Republicans' power hitter. Republicans have a history of nominating candidates who ran and lost before - Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole, John McCain. Romney ran in the last presidential campaign and did pretty well.

He wins straw polls of conservative insiders all the time, including the 2007 Iowa straw poll and the last three straw polls taken at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

"This is the time to pare back government spending. It is not the time to fulfill every liberal dream and spend America into catastrophe," Romney told CPAC in February.

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Michelle Obama embodies a new American brand - diversity and accomplishment.

(CNN) – What can the First Lady accomplish when she accompanies her husband on his first trip to Europe? She can play a role in the re-branding of America.

President Obama has star power. We saw it when he traveled to Europe during the campaign. So does the first lady - when Michelle Obama accompanies her husband overseas this week, it's likely to double the wattage.

"I believe in this nation. And I believe in my husband," the first lady said in a recent interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."

President Obama remains a figure of hope to the world. But he is not immune from criticism, and his policies have been under attack abroad as well as at home.

"He talks about a large stimulus campaign by Americans. All of these steps, their combination and their permanency, is a way to hell," said Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek.

Some foreign leaders are resentful because the financial crisis that threatens to undermine the world economy started in the United States.

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U.S. forces have been engaged in fierce fighting to oust the Taliban in Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - How does the American public feel about the war in Afghanistan? In a word, wary.

President Obama on Friday announced his strategy to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a plan that includes more troops, new legislation, improved troop training and added civilian expertise.

"The United States of American did not choose to fight a war in Afghanistan. Nearly 3,000 of our people were killed on September 11, 2001," Obama said Friday.

"We have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan," he said.

Stressing that "the safety of people around the world is at stake," Obama said the "situation is increasingly perilous" in the region in and around Afghanistan, where the United States has been fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban for more than 7½ years after attacks in New York and at the Pentagon.

Nevertheless, the American public has been wary about the war in Afghanistan, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted in February.

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Obama held a town hall meeting in the White House Thursday. (Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The President is not just the commander-in-chief - he's also the politician-in-chief. And lately, we're seeing President Obama more and more in that role.

Two town halls in California last week. This week, a virtual town hall. Appearances on The Tonight Show . . . 60 Minutes . . . ESPN. Two prime-time news conferences.

Then there's door-to-door canvassing by his grass-roots supporters, and a TV ad from his supporters in the Democratic Party that urges Americans to call their members of Congress and tell them to vote for the Obama budget.

Is the President risking overexposure? You hear that criticism in the press. New York Times columnist Gail Collins wrote, "Barack Obama is going to be on television every day forever. No venue is too strange."

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Obama said he wanted time to think about his AIG response.

(CNN) – President Obama gave a pretty tough answer to CNN's Ed Henry when asked why he waited days to express outrage on the AIG bonuses.

"It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak," he said.

It seemed to imply the question was impertinent.

"After Ed Henry, he looked like he wanted to go home," conservative talk radio host and CNN Contributor Bill Bennett said.

Watch: Ed Henry on his exchange with Obama

President Obama supports lowering the tax rate at which the wealthiest individuals are able to deduct from their charitable donations.

(CNN) - President Obama's proposal on limiting tax deductions on charitable donations will not sit well with charitable organizations. Charities often raise most of their money from wealthy individuals. They say many wealthy donors could be discouraged from giving if their tax deductions are less.

He'll have a fight on his hands over this one.

(CNN) – Procurement reform is difficult because every expenditure is politically sensitive. When a president starts cutting and reforming procurements, he can make permanent political enemies.

(CNN) - President Obama needs economic growth to reduce the deficit. Tax cuts alone cannot do it. It was economic growth in the 1990's that eliminated the deficit.

The president is trying to argue his major spending proposals will lead to this needed economic growth.

(CNN) – The president appears very comfortable discussing complex issues and often performs well in these press conferences. It is no doubt reassuring to many Americans.

And take note: He is responding without a teleprompter.

(CNN) – President Obama used his first answer to critique the deregulation that was heavily promoted by both Democrats and Republicans in the 1980’s and 1990’s.

It's an argument that resonates with Main Street America.

(CNN) - I count 10 major initiatives on President Obama's agenda. Only two of them seem unpopular: bailing out the banks and the auto industry.

But nevertheless, most Americans say he is trying to do too much. His opening statement however clearly proves the president thinks every initiative is related.

Energy, healthcare, and education were all mentioned immediately. He wants Americans to think big picture.

President Obama didn't find much bipartisanship over the stimulus bill or his pick for commerce secretary.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - "It is time for Congress to act, and I hope they act in a bipartisan fashion," President Obama said when he went to Peoria, Illnois, on Thursday to argue for his economic stimulus plan.

Congress acted. But bipartisan? Not so much.

The plan passed the House of Representatives without a single Republican vote, and got only a token number - three - of Republican votes in the Senate.

"All the talk about bipartisanship that we have heard over the last several months went down the drain," House Republican leader John Boehner complained on Friday.

Obama also ran into a wall in his effort to build a bipartisan cabinet when his choice for Secretary of Commerce, Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, withdrew his name from nomination.

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Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks at his impeachment hearing after accusations he tried to sell a Senate seat.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Since the election last November, five vacant Senate seats have been filled by appointments. Awkwardly.

Illinois: Barack Obama's seat. Then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who had been arrested on a criminal complaint for attempting to sell the seat, defied the Senate and appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris. The Senate could find no legal way to block the appointment. Blagojevich was subsequently impeached and removed from office.

New York: Hillary Clinton's seat. Caroline Kennedy campaigned for the Senate and got some rough treatment by the New York media. She lost ground in the polls and ultimately withdrew from the race after becoming the target of anonymous attacks.

Gov. David Paterson appointed Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, a relatively unknown upstate congresswoman. Asked their opinion of the way Paterson handled the appointment, New Yorkers were split - 44 percent approved, 42 percent disapproved - in a Quinnipiac College poll.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - A dramatic moment - noting that 60 years ago, his father could not have been served in segregated Washington. Those of us who grew up in the segregated South understand the amazing significance of this moment. We have lived to see the day.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The call to unity is very much Obama’s trademark –- reaching across barriers, ending "the recriminations and worn-out dogmas." That’s what he means by changing politics in Washington. And right away, he addresses some clear departures from the Bush approach.

A man holds a flag as he watches the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America.

The choice between safety and ideals is false, he says. Without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. There's a clear acknowledgment of the global warming crisis ("the way we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.")

He's one of the few modern Presidents who has reached out to "non-believers" as well as Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus.

"The world has changed, and we must change with it." His theme of "change" carried him through the campaign. Voters saw it as change from Bush. Now he is using it to call for big policy changes, calling this "a moment that will define a generation" - very much like Kennedy in 1961.

"Remaking America" - no small ambition, starting with the literal reconstruction of our infrastructure. He has "big plans" –- and a big crisis that can help him carry them through.

But still, there's an overriding realism. His answer to the old partisan debate: "The question is not whether our government is too big or small, but whether it works." It’s the pragmatist’s answer. Does it work?

People all over the world are seeing America re-invent itself.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - This event is getting huge amounts of attention all over the world. I got e-mails about Obama clubs meeting in the Netherlands and Indonesia –- thousands of fans gathering. I spoke to a radio audience in South Africa.

This is truly the re-branding of America. People all over the world are seeing America re-invent itself.