Obama is slipping some -- probably because he is out of the country.
Haha, what? Do you think people are like, "Ah! I don't see the President! Where is he, where is he?! He's horrible!"
I don't think that's the reason his approval ratings have fallen (slightly...), but the perception that he's spending too much time focusing on international issues, which is reinforced when people see photos of him smiling with Putin or Medvedev, and not doing anything to help the economy certainly can't be helpful (in the short term, at least).
Yeah the fact that he has spent so much time focusing on foriegn policy with almost no attention put on the economy has gotten even me irritated with him.
What no attention?
The issue with modern media is that we assume that if it's not in the 24 hour news cycle, it isn't happening. It's not like Obama is single-handedly steering the economy, so what does him being home have to do with how he handles the economy? He can't make domestic decisions abroad?