Can we please dispense with the bulls#!t "Obama=lowest approval rating of any President" meme?

[TrollBuster9090]

Last edited Sat Dec 21, 2013, 06:21 PM - Edit history (1)

President Obama has been a disappointment in many ways, but if I hear one more MSM News outlet parrot the line about Obama having the lowest approval ratings of any President again, I'm gonna toss my cookies. His post-election approval ratings are in a slump, but they do not constitute a historical low.

In fact, at 38% his approval ratings are still higher than the historical lows of NINE Presidents. But, you know...never let FACTS interfere with a good 'headline.'


Lowest approval ratings by President:

Obama: 38%

Truman: 22%
Nixon: 24%
Bush Jr.: 25%
Carter: 28%
Bush Sr.: 29%
Reagan: 35%
Johnson: 35%
Clinton: 37%
Ford: 37%

Source: Gallup tracking (http://www.gallup.com/poll/124922/Presidential-Approval-Center.aspx?ref=interactive)

EDIT: Now that I look closely at most of the stories that are parroting that talking point, I see that most of them have carefully parsed their words to say something along the lines of "lowest approval ratings of any second term president IN HIS FIFTH YEAR since Nixon..." (Example: http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-approval-rating-polls-nixon-2013-12 ) Technically, that statement may be true, but you sure have to pull some serious grammatical gymnastics to MAKE it true. (ie-Carter, Bush Sr. and Ford only served ONE term, and hit their historical lows EARLIER than Obama, while others hit their low LATER etc.) Why not just say 'Obama has the lowest approval ratings of any President over 6 ft tall?' Or, 'Obama hits lowest recorded approval ratings for any December 17th in history?' The 'integrity' of our press amazes me sometimes.

[spanone]

1. the media got their talking points about 2 daze ago....that's the holiday story

[Lifelong Protester]

2. Having lived through the presidencies of all but Truman

I can attest. There were a lot of reasons for those listed lows. A lot.

[HereSince1628]

3. Truman trying to nationalize industries to crush a union strike...cost him all the way around.

[TrollBuster9090]

4. Yeah, you'll never go broke betting against national Democratic Party politicians supporting

labor unions and collective bargaining.

[Hissyspit]

5. It also means almost nothing.

George W. Bush had very high approval ratings at some point. So what? He was a garbage President.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

6. Why not just poll rich assholes?

[TrollBuster9090]

11. Because that would be too much like an ELECTION? ;)

But now I can see why John Adams is emerging as the Tea Party's favorite Founding Father Idol. Because he believed that only white men who owned property should be allowed to vote. It was, apparently, a concession to change it to only white men voting, whether they owned property or not.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

12. From time to time you will hear a Republican claim apartment dwellers shouldn't be allowed to vote..

After all, they don't actually have a stake in local politics since they aren't responsible, taxpaying residents.

I swear,...it makes me want to grab them by the tie to keep them in haymaker range.

[TrollBuster9090]

14. Well, that's basically the reason behind the visceral hatred for groups like ACORN.

Groups that are trying to register poor people to VOTE. their idea that "poor people shouldn't vote because all they'll do is elect people who'll take money away from ME and give it to THEM."

Well, if it's a plutocracy they want, it's pretty much a plutocracy they've got.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

15. That's why Elisabeth Warren is so refressing....

We've spent far too much time watching Democrats groveling before the 1% trying to convince them that they can be as good as Republicans.

Even now with the "income disparity" issue you will hear a Democrat add, "And it's good for the rich too because it expands the number of customers."

[Tom Rinaldo]

7. Even when parsed carefully...

They omit any relative comparison of how approval for virtually ALL American institutions has declined in recent years. People are more cynical; the 24 hour news cycle, massive amounts of money dumped on negative advertizing, the loss of confidence in the fulfillment of the American dream, all this and more has taken a toll on how Americans view all institutions and politicians, not just the Presidency and this President in particular.

A better comparison would contrast how well Obama is being rated compared to the ratings of his political opposition, and then compare how THAT compares to previous Presidents at this point in their presidency. My guess is that Obama is faring better than many if not most of the Presidents on that list by that standard.

[TrollBuster9090]

10. Yes, they need to 'normalize the baseline' to get any useful information from it. However, the MSM

the MSM uses statistics the way drunks use lamp posts: for support, rather than illumination.

(BTW, I like your user icon of the NEXT SENATOR from ARKANSAS! Well...a guy can dream, can't he?)

[MrScorpio]

8. What they really want to say...

Is that he has the lowest approval rating of anyone who was ever a Black President.

[TrollBuster9090]

9. Yep! I wasn't going to go there, because it seemed too obvious. But when the shoe fits...nt

[Jamaal510]

13. What I've been hearing

is the media emphasizing how it's his "record low" approval ratings. I was beat to this idea already, but what would be a fairer assessment is to compare his approval ratings with Congress's approval ratings, and with his predecessors at this point in their presidencies. Even an approval rating of the high 30s/low 40s isn't too bad in comparison to Congress's single-digit rating or how Bush ll ended up in the 20s.
Nevertheless, approval ratings for any president in their 2nd term are all but meaningless because they no longer can run for re-election. If anyone's approval ratings matter in determining the political climate for 2014, it's that of Congress.