I completely hear what you are saying. Obama's performance as president will be judged by time. The poll numbers suggest that he has a better starting point than "W". That is the only thing that you can get from the poll.

As far as numbers are concerned, I was an accountant. My first class in Accounting, the professor asked, "How much is one and one?" His answer was, "whatever you want it to be". The saying goes, figures lie, and liars figure. They probably could balance the budget by just horsing with numbers.