That's my main take-away from Gallup's latest polling, which shows Obama slowly gaining in approval since last year:
The improvement in Obama's approval rating among independents makes his ratings essentially even within that group, as 43% now approve and 45% disapprove of the job he is doing. In August, his approval-disapproval spread among independents was -18 points, with a 35% approval rating and a 53% disapproval rating.
Obama's ratings have especially improved among independent women, who are now more likely to approve (46%) than disapprove (42%) of the job he is doing. His rating remains net-negative among independent men, 41% approval and 49% disapproval.
Still, as the above HuffPo poll shows, it's still a tight race.