Republicans aren't "nutty". Just because you disagree with them doesn't qualify them as "nutty".
Conservative aren't nutty. Modern day Republicans are. Why? Because they're running from legislation and policies they use to hold, simply becuase a Democrat
and a black man are proposing them.
1994 saw Bill Clinton lose a LOT of House Seats. 1996 saw Bill Clinton fairly easily win re-election. I believe at this time, Clinton even had lower approval ratings than Obama. I know for sure that Bush had lower approval ratings than Obama does when he won in 2004. Historically speaking, Obama is fairly comfortable in terms of approval ratings.
Maybe people are sick of Obama because they've heard nothing but negativity and slander about him from the media and the Republican candidates? Let's wait to see how people feel once the average person is reacquainted with the man.
I've noticed that about the presidential power of public image, by the way. I got it from learning about early medieval Europe actually, how for early Europeans the power and prestige of their king rested pretty much in their being able to see him regularly, so they could get an idea of who was running the realm. Even after almost 2000 years, nothing's changed.
FDR had his fireside chats. The problem is, our media is irresponsible, scandal and tabloid driven. You'll only hear about the President if he says something you can possibly pick apart, or if an opponent says something bad about the President, regardless of it's true. This is also easily a problem on too many choices - too many channels to watch, too much internet, etc. People watch what they want more than just whats on.
The best I can see that we have of this now are the debates. In the debate, Obama will make a fool of Romney. He's more personable, MUCH more personable, and it's an environment he finds himself completely comfortable in. It's funny, cause Republicans used to attack him for using a teleprompter, but I've always felt Obama is at his best when he's just speaking the contents of his mind. He knows a lot of facts, and I don't think he's going to let Romney distort his record, to the extent Romney has been distorting his record.