In the wave of Obama’s recent bad poll numbers came this nugget in the USA Today/Gallup poll: “At six months in office, Obama’s 55% approval rating puts him 10th among the 12 post–World War II presidents at this point in their tenures. When he took office, he ranked seventh.” Tenth of twelve? How could it be that a “sort of a God” is in the bottom quartile? Well, a “sort of God” turned out to be far from infallible. He overpromised and underperformed on the economy, spent more than voters dreamed, and decided to hawk a left-wing agenda.

The comparative lousiness of his poll numbers does in some way burst the bubble of wonderfulness that the White House and media concocted around Obama. He isn’t, it seems, the most beloved leader of our lifetime. He’s not the most popular president ever. Not even close.

This might not mean so much had the Obama spinners not made such a big deal of his popularity. In lieu of substantive arguments in support of his policies, they often resorted to simply quoting poll numbers, asserting how silly it was to quibble with a president as astronomically popular as he. Rather than disclaim interest in poll numbers, his team reveled in them. So now what?

Well, perhaps now that he’s come crashing back down to mediocrity (isn’t that what you’d call a tenth of 12 president whose signature economic plan has flopped?), it would be helpful to keep several things in mind.

First, political success and failure are fleeting things. Obama’s fortunes might just bounce back — provided the economy does too, and he swings to the center of the political spectrum. Ultimately, he’ll be judged by the results of his policies, at least those he can get through Congress.

Second, it may be time (mainstream media, that means you!) to start assessing him on what he accomplishes and whether his rhetoric matches his actions, just like all those other presidents. We may see a bit more critical coverage and even some outright skepticism.

And third, lawmakers will (as they have already begun to) need to think for themselves, challenge the White House on its spin, and exercise some appropriate check on the executive branch. Their political lives will depend on it. If they don’t intend to tie their fate to Obama’s and risk a meltdown in 2010, they just might have to consider why it is that the public is voicing disapproval. Less government? Fewer tax-hike schemes? All worth pondering.

But Obama and his team got one thing right. They sensed that there was a sliver of time to get through his audacious and radical agenda before the public caught on and sticker shock set in. They did, however, underestimate the speed at which that window of time would close. And the result for Democrats is an unnerving breakdown in the president’s agenda and popularity. We’ll now see whether Obama can pull himself out of a slump and his agenda out of the ditch.