In a poll released today from Rasmussen 47% of Americans think Obama's political views are extreme, while just 31% think Romney's are extreme.

A bare majority of voters still considers Mitt Romney in the political mainstream, while the number who think President Obama’s views are extreme has edged up for the second month in a row.  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 51% of Likely U.S. Voters describe the political views of the presumptive Republican presidential candidate as mainstream. Thirty-one percent (31%) consider his views extreme. Eighteen percent (18%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

While I didn't vote for either Obama or McCain last election, I have been surprised by how "mainstream" Obama has actually been.  Even the health care plan, lest Republicans forget, contained many provisions that originated out of the Republican Party, like the individual mandate they now hate so much.  This provision was necessary because Obama broke ranks with the more liberal side of the Democratic caucus; remember the demands for "single-payer" health care?

On a final point of pontification, Obama has had to deal with the most divisive and partisan congress in the history of the country.  Every issue is boiled down to campaign talking points.  Every idea is branded as an "us v. them."  So it should not be a surprise when the American people view anyone in the political thicket as an extremist from their respective side.  It is no wonder that Obama's political views are viewed the same.