Obama’s numbers are considerably stronger than those of Reagan at a comparable time in his presidency.
But Reagan pursued a pro-growth program of tax cuts and deregulation to stimulate the economy into the biggest peacetime boom in history so that by the time the 1984 elections came around, the recovery was in full swing and the mood of the country was effervescent. So all Obama has to do it hope that more regulation, higher taxes, and less freedom will similarly boost the economy in the next two years and the comparison to Reagan will turn out prophetic. As for me, I don't see that happening.
That’s it in a nutshell. Both Reagan and Obama faced/face a crushed economy and both set out policies to correct it. We know the outcome of Reagan’s leadership, and by 2012 we’ll have a verdict on the left wing approach.
Reagan also whipped inflation contradicting the views of many “experts” who thought you couldn’t have high growth rates without high inflation.