Obama’s first-term accomplishments are piling up, capped by the health care overhaul and the recent passage of a sweeping financial reform bill. Yet, at the same time, his approval ratings have fallen to fresh lows, prompting one prominent ally of the president’s to quip, “Worst-case scenario? You’re looking at the best one-term president in the history of the United States” before quickly adding, “Kidding!…

Instead, it’s turned into Obama’s Summer of No Love, thanks to the persistently lousy economy, a succession of major crises and middling distractions — from the BP oil spill to Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s insubordination, to the Shirley Sherrod fiasco — and the ascent of virulently anti-Obama cable-news critics like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin.

“I think we’re on a different kind of a news cycle than what I’ve been used to … And a lot of that commentary is very inflammatory,” said Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin, a liberal Obama ally in the Senate…

But some fellow Democrats say that’s nonsense. Obama is responsible for his own troubles by pushing for a glittering legislative legacy in lieu of a laser focus on creating jobs. There has been grumbling and tension among his supporters in Congress — including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was angered by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs’s assessment that the Democrats could lose House seats this fall.