Bush's 67% Gallup Disapproval Number In Historical Perspective (...sucks to be him)

[Hissyspit]

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/2/6/161019/1426

Bush's High Disapproval Still Holds Realignment Potential
by Chris Bowers, Tue Feb 06, 2007 at 04:10:19 PM EST

From Gallup:

In three January polls, an average of 36% of Americans approved of Bush's performance as president. The Feb. 1-4 poll, the first Gallup Poll conducted after his State of the Union address, now finds 32% of Americans approving of Bush and 65% disapproving. The new approval rating nearly matches the low for his administration, 31% in May 2006, and the 65% disapproval rating ties his highest negative rating, from that same May poll.

Bush has not had an approval rating above 40% since last September, and has not been above 50% in any Gallup Poll in nearly two full years (March 2005)... Look at where it fits in the all-time ranking of high disapproval polls from Gallup:

Highest Presidential Disapproval In Gallup Poll

Truman: 67%, once in early January 1952
Nixon: 66%, immediately before resigning in 1974. Only reached 65% in one other poll.
Bush Jr.: 65%, twice. Once in May 2006, and again in February 2007. Period of extreme unpopularity now as long as Nixon's.
Bush Sr.: 60%, once, in early August, 1992.
Carter: 59%, early July, 1979. Never hit 60%.
Reagan: 56%, late January, 1983. Never rose above 46% during final five and a half years in office.
Clinton: 53%, September 1994. Disapproval never passed 43% during final five years as President.
Johnson: 52%, twice, in March and August, 1968.
Ford: 46%, mid-April, 1975.
F. Roosevelt: 46%, three times (twice in May 1938, once in November 1938).
Eisenhower: 36%, early April, 1958.
Kennedy: 30%, mid-November 1963. No wonder people thought Johnson's 52% rating meant he was really unpopular--no one else had broken 36% in over 15 years.

As you can see, Bush's disapproval rating is extremely high compared to past Presidents, both in terms of simple rankings and in terms of the length it has lasted. Only Carter, Truman and Nixon suffered plus 55% disapproval ratings for this length of time. Only Nixon and Truman approached the same raw level of disapproval for any length in time. And to top it off, Republicans still strongly approval of Bush. In other words, we are going through an extended period time when a sitting President has disapproval as ratings high as anyone has ever had, and when members of his own party view his performance in an utterly divergent way from Independents. That is a potential formula for re-alignment. Bush can brand his party in a negative fashion for a long, long time.

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[WI_DEM]

1. good historical overview

[Herman74]

2. Thanks for posting this n/t

[etherealtruth]

3. Yet, the sociopath doesn't care

He's the decidier ... and "F" what the people of the United States want.

He represents a very narrow group of people ... and he represents them well!

The "booming economy" is really only true for the top 5-10% of the wealthiest Americans ... the rest of us have not done well. Ah, but for that 5-10% he has represented them very well.

[senseandsensibility]

4. This is the type of analysis

you will never hear from Bill Schneider of CNN.

[Hissyspit]

5. .

[XemaSab]

6. What did Truman do?

:shrug:

[KingofNewOrleans]

10. Toyed with running for a third term

after the 22nd Amendment had been ratified (though Truman legally could run for a third term). There were also some corruption scandals and the Korean War wasn't going swimmingly.

[struggle4progress]

13. Truman invited General Eisenhower over ..

.. and asked if Ike would like to be the Democratic nominee.

Answer: I'm a Republican

Harry and Ike had kinda chilly relations after that

...

<edit:> OK -- guess that's not the question you were asking

[rasputin1952]

14. Truman hit his low during Korea, and when he sacked...

MacArthur, it was all but over.

mac had his problems, but the people saw him as a great icon of courage and resolve, he was a hero in his time. Looking back through the eyes of history, MacArthur owes a great deal to a friendly press. He did some things that were truly at the military genius level, but he really screwed up often as well. His ego was bigger than that of most we see now, but it was his staff that brought him victory and fame, he really had little to do w/it.

FWIW...Mac almost ran for pres against Eisenhower, as a Dem no less....but he figured he was getting too old.

[bdamomma]

7. he just does not care and is totally detached from humanity.

* has definite psychological and psychiatric issues, I only wish more of those in DC would know that, or do they know they are dealing with a sick sick SOB.

[mwb970]

15. They have to know it. Apparently they don't care.

Bush's mental illness and personality disorders are as obvious as Cheney's criminality and Rice's incompetence. But there is a special kind of blindness that afflicts those inside the Beltway, so apparently they just can't see it. Or they don't want to see it. Or they don't care.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

8. Under a full blown hate radio campaign, they couldn't drive Clinton's negatives higher than 53%

If the liberals had the same grip on radio and cable news that the RW has today, what would junior's numbers be?

[Stinky The Clown]

9. "sucks to be him"

Sucks even worse to have live under his reign of terror.

[autorank]

11. Truth Hurts;) K&R

[Batgirl]

12. These numbers show that he has become the Shoe Bomber President

Once the other passengers realized that the Shoe Bomber was Up To No Good they basically all jumped on him, whaling the tar out of him and using the seatbelts to truss him up like a turkey. I think there's a risk that something like that would occur if Bush, in a fit of dementia, slipped from his protective bubble of handlers to run into Farmer Jack's for a 6-pack. Whichever ordinary citizen saw him first would point their finger and shriek, touching off one hell of a melee. Little old ladies would smash him with their walkers and oxygen canisters. Other adults would be smacking him mercilessly with their purses, heads of caulifluer, and bouncing those cute little wooden crates of clementine tangerines off his pointy head. Children would find openings in the mob to reach in and pinch whatever small leftover body parts weren't currently being attacked. It would end only when the stockboy retrieved the forklift from the backroom and dumped a load of palettes directly onto the Shoebomber President, immobilizing him until help arrived.

Just like the Shoebomber, and for the very same reason: Because by now every man, woman and child -- or at least the vast majority who are in fact capable of rational thought -- knows this maniac is intent on taking us all down with him.