Having had his fill of Beltway Republicans who put their partisan gain ahead of the country's well-being, and Beltway media living in a bubble, President Obama today took his message to the economically troubled heartland to discuss his stimulus plan:

On Monday, President Obama traveled to this depressed northern Indiana city to highlight what's at stake as his $800-billion-plus economic stimulus bill is debated in Congress.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says Obama wanted to go where the nation's economic problems are "acute" as part of his "his effort to convince Congress to move swiftly."

This area did not vote for Obama in November, but The Elkhart Truth newspaper is on board with that message now. "President Obama needs to help Congress understand that the stimulus package isn't about politics. It's about survival," the newspaper said in a Sunday editorial.

I don't think Republicans have gotten that message. They're much prouder of having branded themselves the party of ideologically rigid opposition, more eager to tear down Democrats as "socialists" and to publicly hope they fail than to pitch in and do something constructive to help.

Meanwhile, the latest Gallup poll shows:

The American public gives President Barack Obama a strong 67% approval rating for the way in which he is handling the government's efforts to pass an economic stimulus bill, while the Democrats and, in particular, the Republicans in Congress receive much lower approval ratings of 48% and 31%, respectively.