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The lame-duck session was kind to President Obama: Gallup shows his approval rating up to 50 percent for the first time since late May/early June. It’s possible that it’s just an artificial bump, says Gallup, due to “a temporary increase in optimism that Gallup sometimes sees at the beginning of the New Year.” Still, Obama laid low during the final weeks of 2010 while Congress passed several of his legislative initiatives. His Gallup rating hit a low of 41 percent in mid-August and late October.