In the 2008 general election, Sen. Barack Obama was an inspiration to many Granite Staters who had grown disillusioned with the Republican Party politics of the George W. Bush era. Four years later, many of the voters who turned to Obama with hope in their hearts have felt that hope turn once again into disillusionment.

The poll data bear this out. As the University of New Hampshire’s Granite State Poll shows, President Obama’s lead in New Hampshire has fallen from 10 points in January to three points this month. That trend was noted in a Monday New York Times story that contained an interview with a New Hampshire woman named Dawn who expressed very well the disappointment of so many Obama voters, like herself, in this state.

“Obama is not on my real popular list,” she said. “I think Obamacare is ridiculous. A lot of things that were based on good intentions get messed up.”

She added, “Obama is not off the hook with me. Do I think it’s wise to spend tons of money on stimuluses and stimuluses? No.”

Dawn is no Republican stalwart. She voted for Obama because she believed he would fix the things he said he would fix. He promised pragmatism, not politics as usual. Now she sees, as do so many others, that the promises were empty.

A Gallup poll released on Monday showed that 56 percent of swing-state voters in this year’s presidential election say they are not better off than they were four years ago. A majority, 52 percent, said President Obama has not “done as well as could be expected when dealing with the economy.” The poll covered 12 swing states, including New Hampshire.

That poll followed a Gallup poll released last week that found strong disapproval of President Obama’s handling of economic issues. The President’s approval rate was only 37 percent on the issue of job creation, 36 percent on the economy and 30 percent on the federal budget deficit.

It is not hard to see why the President draws such low numbers. His policies do not work. Obamacare does not fix the rising cost of health care in the United States. Obamanomics has not fixed Wall Street or the economy or entitlements or the federal deficit.

As Dawn put it, things “based on good intentions got messed up.” In truth, they never would have worked. It is not enough to have good intentions. Successful governing requires good policies. Obama never offered those, and he does not offer them now. With 8.3 percent unemployment and a federal debt $5 trillion larger than when he took office, Obama offers the exact same policies he offered four years ago.

The Gallup poll released last week showed that 58 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama’s handling of job creation and 60 percent disapprove of his handling of the economy. (The approval and disapproval numbers don’t equal 100 percent because a few people don’t pick either answer.) At this point, it is clear that Obama’s policies do not and will not work. Hoping for different results the second time around would be incredibly foolish.