It’s official. President George W. Bush has united the American people, who have collectively declared him: Worst. President. Ever.
President Bush has set a record he’d presumably prefer to avoid: the highest disapproval rating of any president in the 70-year history of the Gallup Poll.
In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, 28% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing; 69% disapprove. The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt.
The previous record of 67% was reached by Harry Truman in January 1952, when the United States was enmeshed in the Korean War.
The title comes at the end of a long downhill slide from having the record highest approval rating in September, 2001. Bush earned that record by ignoring a daily presidential briefing dated 6 August 2001 titled, “Bin Laden determined to strike in US.” (Among other things, the memo pointed out, “…FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.”)
Besides the USA Today/Gallup poll, there was an ARG poll released today and a Rasmussen poll released Sunday that included presidential approval.
The ARG poll gave Bush 22% approval and 72% disapproval. This isn’t the worst Bush has done in the ARG poll…in February, his approval was a mere 19% and his disapproval was an astounding 77%. But, then, ARG presidential approvals polls seem to be biased against Bush, and ARG, in general, has something of a reputation for quirky (i.e. highly variable) results.
The Rasmussen approval poll (which is now taken weekly instead of daily) has Bush’s approval at 34% and disapproval at 64%. The Rasmussen presidential approval polls have always been biased in favor of Bush relative to other major pollsters (but consistently and reliably so). We can compare Sunday’s results with past performance in the Rasmussen poll. When the April polls are averaged at the end of the month, this is likely to be Bush’s worst performance to date–easily beating the 36% approval and 61% disapproval from last May. Rasmussen points out:
Sometimes it is difficult to keep the ratings in perspective. In February 2005, at the beginning of the President’s second term, the number who Strongly Approved was roughly equal to the number who Strongly Disapproved. Now, three years later, just 13% Strongly Approve while more than three times as many—45%–Strongly Disapprove.
Aggregates of multiple polls (e.g. Prof. PollKatz or Pollster.com) also show Bush at the lowest point of his presidency.
So…we have a lame duck Worst. President. Ever. But consider this: at this point in the second term, Ronald Reagan was hovering around 50% approval and Bill Clinton’s approval was in the low 60%. It isn’t just a “lame duck” effect.
Does Bush’s pathetic approval/disapproval matter? From Rasmussen:
In March, as the President’s Approval Rating slipped, the number of Americans who consider themselves to be Democrats remained near the highest levels ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports.
Yeah…I guess it does a little. Besides needlessly sending our soldiers to their death and running up enormous debt for an illegal war that was fraudulently foisted upon the American people, besides the erosion of our civil liberties, the invasion of our privacy, and the approval of torture contrary to our treaties, in addition to causing massive (and, quite possibly, permanent) damage to our reputation abroad, it looks like the Bush administration has also made it downright distasteful (or, perhaps, embarrassing) to be a Republican.
What are the folks who ‘approve’ of Bush approving? They must be approving the things the majority deplores: ipso-fatso, “…needlessly sending our soldiers to their death and running up enormous debt for an illegal war that was fraudulently foisted upon the American people, besides the erosion of our civil liberties, the invasion of our privacy, and the approval of torture contrary to our treaties, in addition to causing massive (and, quite possibly, permanent) damage to our reputation abroad….”
Duh….
“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time. ”
If the Republicans would’ve just heeded the wisdom of their party’s first president things would be so much different for them right now.
But, because they’ve either been dishonest, disingenuous, arrogant, or just patently wrong on every major issue that is important to Americans, they are going to get a very loud and clear message this November – in the famous words of Donald Trump “YOU’RE FIRED!!!!
Ummmmm Darryl, why did you fail to quote the recent Rasmussen Poll on Congress?:
“Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Just 13% of Likely Voters now say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 47% give Congress a poor rating”
It’s clear to any reasonable person that people distrust government in general. You can try all you want to make government distrust a partisan issue…but it is a stretch that doesn’t reach.
Government at all levels has gotten too big, too ineffective and waaaaaaaaaaay too intrusive.
Let’s look at ALL the polling issues Darryl.
Bad Try==NO SALE!
Ummmmm Darryl–
How intellectually DISHONEST of you!
In the very same article about Bush’s dismal 28% approval rating is this:
” The current 20% Congress job rating is not the lowest in recent years; we recorded an 18% job approval rating for Congress last year.”
20% for the DEMOCRATIC DOMINATED CONGRESS Darryl.
I though you were more honest than to pluck out 1 factoid from an article and close your eyes to another EVEN WORSE!!!!!
FOR SHAME DARRYL!!!!!!
Face it….people are disgusted with the current 2-Party system.
I have been chirping for years the time is right for a smaller, less intrusive government that is cost effective & accountable and not running all over the world flexing muscles & fighting other peoples fights (yes, that means you President Bush!)
Too many of the Democrats in Congress are Marxists & Socialists….this is why they have AN EVEN WORSE RATING THAN THE PRESIDENT!!!
Mr. Cynical:
No no no no no. The correct spin/meme is that Bush it the WORST.PRESIDENT.EVER. Don’t forget that! Pass the peace pipe!
re 6: What’s too big are the corporations who push the government around. “We the People” are, after all, supposed to be the government. Why would we want to be smaller in the face of the unelected, unrepresentative political power of the uber-rich and the corporations?
You would surrender yourself to the totalitarian corporations.
Ahhhh, Mr. Cynical is now becoming Mr. Crotchety Old Man.
My advice, “Stay the course” of “TOO LIBERAL” “DEMOCRATS ARE MARXIST” “THEY’LL RAISE YOUR TAXES” “SOFT ON TERRORISM”
Yeah, all that rhetoric got you where you are now, but, that sun has set on you and your ilk.
You’re yesterday’s news, old hat, and, of course “YOU’RE FIRED!”
America experimented with conservatism for 28 years and it is now returning to it’s roots – Liberalism.
So how is it relevant that the Congress has a low approval rating when it’s the President we’re talking about? Oh I forgot it’s Rovian politics. Deflect and point the finger anywhere else.
And while the righties like to crow about the “Democratic” Congress – there’s one fact they can’t distort no matter how hard they lie.
There are republicans in that Congress too – but there’s NO Democrat in the White House – the GOP gets to ride that low approval rate all by itself.
The principal reason for the low approval rating of Congress is that Democratic leadership, for whatever reasons, backed away from impeachment, and has continued to offer what appears from the outside to be mere token interference with the administration’s continuing misdeeds.
The fact Truman was nearly as unpopular as Bush is, does not make Bush a Truman. Most historians now consider Truman a “great” or “near great” president. There’s no chance in hell that Chimpface will ever be considered anything but a great big liar, and a great big failure. The appellation “Worst.President.Ever” is George’s alone, and in modern times only Nixon comes close.
12: It is impossible to measure “dissatisfaction with Congress” as a Democratic fault. The Republicans in the Senate have obstructed Democratic measures at every turn through use of the filibuster (actual or promised), and even hindered Republican-sought legislation (renewal of the Patriot Act, Telecommunications Act) unless every dot and tittle matched Bush & Co. demands. And even when the Democrats have managed to get anything past the obstructionist Republicans in the Senate, Bush has vetoed the bills (child health care). Add to that ArtFart’s valid point, that a lot of Americans wanted a full-fledged impeachment resolution and commmittee hearings, followed by a vote in the House and a trial in the Senate, and you have a general dissatisfaction with how things have gone over the past year.
So if the Republicans are relying upon dissatisfaction with Congress to carry them through in November – good luck with that. I believe that Congressional approval ratings will improve remarkably merely by putting a Democrat in the White House and turning ten Republican-held Senate seats over to the Democrats, thereby removing the threat of a filibuster as an obstructionist weapon.
Speaking of soldiers, according to this week’s news reports, the Pentagon is both dipping deeper into the felon pool and involuntarily extending enlistments to fill the ranks. Bush’s military is beginning to look like the Eastern Front in 1945. It’s probably just a matter of time before he’ll be sending 13 and 14-year-old boys into battle. Better hide your kids if you see a Republican with a clipboard coming down your block!
@ 5 Mr. Irrelevant, you ignorant old poof!
Rasmussen Reports additionally that voters trust the Democrats more than Republicans on eight out of ten key electoral issues.
http://tinyurl.com/yvsxsb
Spin that you miserable bag of lies !
Man, I’m going to have to lift a toast to the president. After all, a record is a record, and setting this record takes some hard and sustained effort, sweat and persistence and all that. Skol, Mr. President.
GW will actually be seen as one of the great presidents, perhaps before all of you clowns get out of high school.
I assume you mean “George Washington”
If not, then you are a deluded loon!
Hillary is not a Ho named his pecker GW. He was gazing lovingly into it’s eye when he made that post.
The current President, G.W. Bush, will certainly rank near the bottom of the list of Presidents, if not actually at the bottom. Only the failures of Buchanan might give him from safety at the absolute bottom, because G.W. Bush has yet to see half of the nation split from the Union, as a precursor civil war.
But give him time. During the Buchanan administration, seccession of the deep south occured during the last six months of the Buchanan administration, and Bush still has eight months to go in office.
Blatantly Foolish–
You neglected to quote these stats from the Rasmussen Poll:
The GOP’s have a four-point advantage on taxes and a five-point advantage when it comes to National Security and the War on Terror. Taxes are a Very important issue for 58% of voters and National Security is Very Important for 62% of voters.
It will be interesting to see on Election Day how important Taxes and National Security are for Voters….especially if O-blah-blah gets the nomination. He is MUCH weaker than Hillary on BOTH Taxes & National Security.
These 2 issues could very well be the difference.
Richard Nixon was actually quite a brilliant man, and before he and his associates let hubris get the better of them, had a few decent ideas to throw out on the table. One of these, as I remember, was promotion of “Black capitalism” as a means of attacking the disparity in wealth and opportunity between the races. Another was restoring political and economic relations with mainland China. One can only wonder if he would be pleased with where that eventually led.
The only thing Bush has in common with Harry Truman is a penchant for the use of foul language. However, Truman’s noted cursing was generally stimulated by his intolerance for fools.
Bush, on the other hand, swears simply because he is a fool.
Taxes, hmmm? So, how come after the GOPers have supposedly saved us so much money, so many of us are going broke?
To carry a an already-tired joke a little further, maybe Bush hasn’t been impeached because nobody could be found willing to give him a blow job.
@ 21, Mr. Shit fer Brains,
Here is the level of importance vs the Democratic advantage. ( I have no idea how this will format out – we shall see) The point being, the Republicans hold a slim advantage on the things voters care least about!
You are in a world of hurt, Mr. SFB, come November!
http://tinyurl.com/5beqqu
Issue / Very Important(%) / Net Dem Advantage
Health Care / 60 / 16
Social Security / 63 / 12
Economy / 79 / 8
Education / 61 / 6
Gov’t Ethics
& Corruption / 76 / 6
Immigration / 49 / 4
Abortion / 41 / 3
Iraq / 60 / 2
Taxes / 58 / -4
Nat’l Security
/ War on Terror / 62 / -5
* edited to attempt to improve the format.
Give it up. Mr. Irrelevant,
Your side cheated, lied, propagandized, and stole.. But in the end you have not only lost, but you are gonna stay lost for a long, long time.
America has figured out what lying scumbags you neocon nuts are, and they ain’t gonna forget very soon!
BrainFart spews:Bush, on the other hand, swears simply because he is a fool.
Finally, an excuse for the comments all over this blog. I thought it was solely a bunch of dolts waiting patiently for puberty.
28–
Amen!
ArtFart–
You’ve got to admit your comment is pretty funny given the language Goldy, Rog and others are prone to use.
Rog–
ArtFart says you swear because you are a FOOL!!
How condescending.
Blantantly Foolish–
I believe in the end folks will vote for a candidate based on Taxes & National Security.
It will be hard for Socialists like O-blah-blah to give folks confidence in the Economy.
28 and 29
You guys don’t get anything, do you? ArtFart said: “Truman’s noted cursing was generally stimulated by his intolerance for fools.” There are wingnuts, therefore I swear. You fucks earn the disrespect, and foul language, that comes your way. Comprehend, children?
proud loofa–
Is that the very best you can do???
How is O-blah-blah doing tonite??
Rush Limbaugh delivered him a crushing defeat!!
proud leftist (sans balls) – You fucks earn the disrespect, and foul language, that comes your way. Comprehend, children?
Thanks for making my point.
Thank you George W. bush – the President from Oil land! You have delivered the american people to the democrats. Your unnecessary war started under false pretenses, using cherry-picked intelligence, has united the american people in opposition to your failed presidency.
The record budget deficits and trade deficits along with the record oil prices demonstrate how bankrupt the republican brand is and how it can ruin our economy in 8 short years. Additonally, your support of Rove and Abramoff shows how corruption permeates the republican party. Finally, thank you for showing what happens when republicans take control of government – Brownie and New Orleans, HUD, FCC, FEC, EPA, FDA and others are now totally incompetent and corrupted – not even counting the demonstration of what you and your crony
Gonzalez can due to the Justice department (or what is left of Justice). Thank you for showing the american people what an incompetent and corrupt party can do to our country (and what happens when the republican philosophy of drowning government is put in place) – now we need to call in the responsible adults to fix the mess our country is in – the adults are called democrats.
Bush could lose one-fourth of his last ditch approval and still be a more approved president than Truman or Carter.
The New York Times Almanac, Y2K edition, shows that Truman, in the pits, had a Gallup approval of 20%. Carter a point or two higher. So Bush gets only the Bronze for the number that normal people look at.
But why quibble: Let’s get the Disapproval stats for HA.