History With A Tilt

CNN reports that Bush is making history:

Bush leaving office more unpopular than Nixon

WASHINGTON DC (CNN) -- On the day that President-elect Barack Obama is visiting the White House, a new national poll suggests that the current occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the most unpopular president since approval ratings were first sought more than six decades ago.

Seventy-six percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday disapprove of how President Bush is handling his job.

That's an all-time high in CNN polling and in Gallup polling dating back to World War II.

"No other president's disapproval rating has gone higher than 70 percent. Bush has managed to do that three times so far this year," says CNN polling director Keating Holland. "That means that Bush is now more unpopular than Richard Nixon was when he resigned from office during Watergate with a 66 percent disapproval rating."

   Before Bush, the record holder for presidential disapproval was Harry Truman, with a 67 percent disapproval rating in January of 1952, his last full year in office.

Hmm, there's something about Harry - despite a high number of undecided Truman once held both the highest disapproval rating ever and the historic ebb tide for approval.  Gallup explained this last April:

Harry Truman's 22% approval rating was accompanied by a 64% disapproval rating, leaving 14% of those interviewed who did not offer an opinion about his job performance. Richard Nixon's two 24% job approval ratings in 1974 were paired with 63% and 66% disapproval ratings, leaving 13% and 10% with no opinion.

In the most recent poll for Bush, his approval rating is 28% while his disapproval rating is 69%, leaving only 3.5% (rounded to 4%) who don't have an opinion.

That said, per CNN Bush's current *disapproval* rating is 76%.  With no undecideds, that leaves room for a 24% approval rating.  Hey, did Bush manage to take out Harry's 22% mark?  And why can't I find that seemingly simple number?  These reports indicate that there were no undecideds at all - how odd. 

Comments

[PDinDetroit]

Obama will have 100% Approval Ratings for his whole term.

Those who state they disapprove will be beaten until they approve...

[bio mom]

There is something foul and putrid about the lefty media and their fellow travelers that even when their favored son wins, they must still find a way to spit on this President. May all who feel this urge rot in hell. Yet Bush always turns the other cheek.

[hrtshpdbox]

"Yet Bush always turns the other cheek."

He's a classy guy, is why. Unlike an awful lot of the American public.

[MayBee]

I want people to sing from the rooftops about what a great job Bush is doing with this transition.
He didn't like what happened to him, and rather than be petty and vindictive, he is making this an easy transition for the man who ran on trashing him.

[clarice]

He's a lovely man who tried very hard to protect us and to restore dignity to the office of the presidency.

[bad]

He didn't like what happened to him, and rather than be petty and vindictive, he is making this an easy transition for the man who ran on trashing him.

And doing a great job at transition time is in the best interest of the country.

[matt]

unfortunately, Bush is one of the worst communicators we've seen in the office. If he had even a moderately competent staff, he would be much higher, but instead he got Scott McClellan.

[bunky]

Clarice: did protect us. :)

[Extraneus]

Obama doesn't deserve an easy transition, and I for one hope we never have another turn-the-other-cheek Republican President again, ever. He allowed the left to trash him repeatedly, and is completely responsible for the end result, including the Obama Presidency.

The more Bush helps with the transition, the sooner and more effectively Obama can screw us. I wouldn't mind if we were all just loyal Americans with different points of view, but we're not.

[Extraneus]

And whose numbers are they working on now?

Guess.

[centralcal]

Class act - now that is something Jimmah Carter and Bill Clinton now nothing about.

Bush will be far better off historically than either of those two.

[centralcal]

now = know

[LindaK]

Unfortunately, in this election, the American people got sweettalked into trying something new and didn't put much value on how the Bush administration protected us all these years. Bush struggled hard against the negative forces of the Democrats and won. Because Bush was patriotic and principled, the Dems could afford to undermine our national security and be generally unprinipled in their attacks.

[clarice]

cc, about history, you may be right, but generally speaking betting on the dark side has a better track record, I'm afraid. (Yes. I am getting very cynical. I'm thinking if the country's dumb enough to elect this cipher I just ought to take advantage of the opportunities provided.)

[torquewrench]

And whose numbers are they working on now?

Guess.

And my local fishwrap, the San Francisco Chronicle, gleefully headlined that AP wire story as "Palin 'frantically' sorts wardrobe".

The "frantically" adjective comes from her father, who also defended her stoutly, but of course that part of it gets buried deep in the body of the article, not the headline.

You would think that by now, the Palin family would have figured it out, that the national press corpse are NOT THEIR FRIENDS, and that objectivity and professionalism of coverage are off the table (and have been from the beginning), that anything the family says will be distorted or taken out of context, and that perhaps the smartest possible thing to do is to just say to them, "I'm sorry, but I'm too busy to comment. Thank you so much for calling."

[George S]

The one question I would ask these disapprovers is: why? Put it in words. But I doubt we'll ever get a story like that from CNN, or whoever, because what we'd get would be either the repetition of the media-fabricated distortions about the man or a blank stare. I'll bet that conservatives will have far more articulable reasons for disapproving his job than your typical leftist/moderate.

But Obama is not going to have that problem for one simple reason: the media will never dissemble any negative information whatsoever. Those who voice disapproval in these upcoming polls will be ignored with a vengeance. Just ask Bill (Free as a Bird) Ayers.

[Jor]

Uh it wasn't the lefty media that threw him under the bus -- it was John McCain. He practically avoided bush at ALL costs. It would be interesting to get a larger sample on approval ratings where you can break it down by region. Although it wasn't hard to find McCain supporters in Silicon valley, I can't remeber the last time someone spoke positively about Bush in person to me. It wouldn't suprirse me if a national 24% approval rating is a 40% approval rating in t he south, and 5-10% in the rest of the country.

[MikeS]

The Dems despicable 8 year campaign to demonize George Bush has been successful. That it was an organized campaign to demonize the President is indisputable in my mind. I think the commenters who blame that campaign's success on a lack of defense by Bush and his administration are right. If there was any kind of refutation or counterpoints offered in defense of the President, or even in defense of Republicans in general, I wasn't aware of it.

Going forward, I would like to hear more people talk about how this Alinsky tactic was employed during the Bush administration. In fact I think every Republican ought to mention it each time he speaks in public.

[PeterUK]

"Uh it wasn't the lefty media that threw him under the bus"

Oh look! They're picking up The One's speech mannerisms already.

[SR]

"Yet Bush always turns the other cheek."

Is it that, or is it that he really honestly doesn't care about public opinion polls? On the one hand I've admired him for holding steady on Iraq and other national security matters in the face of vitriolic criticism, on the other I've wished he'd have worked a little harder to explain and defend his foreign policy agenda to the persuadables in the middle.

I need to remember to sent him a thank-you letter before he leaves office in any case, he has never deserved the terrible treatment he's gotten in the media.

[JM Hanes]

The Cruise Report! (divided into 2 Captcha evading segments):

We're sure y'all will be pleased to know that the JOM crew have arrived safely at our first port of call. Our intrepid Brit Capt'n battoned ye hatches, ramped up the knottage, and blew us by Cuba and Paloma in the dead of night -- while we all slept soundly in our very comfortable beds.

We're sorry that Clarice missed out on the mud wrestling! It's a far more popular sport in conservative circles than any of us imagined (along with arm wrestling for face time with our celebrity pundits, of course). Fortunately, we had a full complement of JOMmers for both Tag Team and Individual competitions. The tatoo parlor turns out to be a popular social hotspot, and getting the required team call sign emblazoned our tender flesh was not nearly as painful as I'd have thought. In deference to the local cult, I think you'll agree that Caro suggested a most tactful alternative to TM RULES! I'd have posted a photo of the winners' circle, but it's NSFW and you wouldn't recognize us anyway. (The ear muffs were a big hit, Sue!) Can you guess who won the individual competition for Mark Steyn?

Jane is now a virtual member of Fred Thompson's family. Laura brought her own family to the fray, including her poised and lovely young daughter. Mitt Romney is conservative treasure. Charlie and Pofarmer were both well represented in the fisticuffs over the wisdom of the meltdown bail-out. Jane & I had the pleasure of sitting at Jay Nordlinger's table last night, and as you might imagine, he was a most gracious host. One of our fellow guests turned out to yet another JOMer. Apparently they're everywhere, TM!

[sbw]

In lieu of a post election day editorial our editor ran McCain's concession speech which was an exercise in comity that was better than anything I could offer.

Today a person called to ask if we planned to run Obama's speech on winning the election. I declined pointing out that it was accessible through many avenues, had been described by our coverage, and that our focus was more on local news and sports.

I was gracious and friendly and did not read what I had written that I was advised not to run.

[clarice]

This jerk claims he was Cameron's source on Palin--read what he says carefully and you'll see he was making shit up and Cameron bought it.
Ass does not spell rosebud

[clarice]

Very funny,sbw.
jmh. You're gonna regret that post. I'm tightening the screws on the dolls as we speak.

[kim]

What an asshole. He threatens her, too.
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[JM Hanes]

The Cruise Report! Part Deux

Our first report would not be complete without wish-you-were-here shipboard sunsets, thoughtfully provided by Caro. We're confident that Hit is, indeed, with us in spirit, so this-one's-for-you. . More (hopefully!) later. The weather suddenly appears to be catching up with us and I'm off to make sure my life jacket is in order. The Captain assures us that he doesn't intend to lose a second ship, and is perfectly capable of negotiating the narrow Grand Turk channel without being blown upon its world famous reef. In any case, My own thorough machine check reveals that the necessary salvage equipment is plentiful and well oiled. Hypocritical feminists would probably be secretly pleased to know that it's apparently still women and children first.

Avast ye lubbers, we're away!

[sbw]

Note to self: Ignore Martin whassisname forevah!

[JM Hanes]

Clarice:

As you can see from Part Deux, the screws seem to be working. Guess I'll be off to party like there's no tomorrow!

[clarice]

Thanks,JMH.

Sbw, I sent an email to Brit with Martin's post in it. I don't know if he'll see it, but I noted that if Martin was telling the truth, Cameron and Fox helped him slander Palin.

[clarice]

Have fun, jmh..oops just a minute, I dropped the screwdriver..Smoooooches.

[E. Nigma]

Bush and Truman do have certain qualities in common.

Both are/were prickly, hard-assed guys, who did what they thought was right and to Hell with the rest of it. I really don't think there is a whole lot of 'turn the other cheek' in George Bush. He is just stubborn.

Truman came at the end of the New Deal era, and Bush is at the end of the 'Reagan Era'. Yes, this is the end of the Reagan Era, friends. And coming at the end means that all those ideas that seemed so great at the beginning are now shopworn and 'unpopular'.

Ideas wear out, and people wear on other people. GWB wasn't as annoyingly ubiquitous as Clinton, who seemed to be on TV 24/7 some weeks, but he has worn a lot of people out, partly because he is one stubborn cuss who wouldn't always bow to public opinion/the Media to get favorable treatment.

I personally wish he had been a better President, but considering the alternatives were Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004, we could have done a lot worse.

Despite or because of Barack Obama, I think in the years to come Bush will be regarded in a different light than today. He may forever be equated to Herbert Hoover, but I sort of doubt that. We have no idea how Barack will be as a President, but I personally think the next four years are going to be a rough ride no matter who was elected President this year. Our holiday from history in the '90's is also well and truly over.

It's just that a lot of the Media want it to be Sept. 10, 2001 again, and they are frankly idiots.

[Elliott]

Glad to hear all are having fun. I hope the good weather continues...but, that's really in Clarice's hands, isn't it?

[clarice]

Yes, it seems to be, Elliott..Perhaps I am the One, after all.

[kim]

The comments on Marty Eisenstadt's blog are kind of fun; mine is in moderation.
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[clarice]

Mine is in immoderation.

[kim]

I wonder what Stanley Rubin thinks of Marty's contribution to the Group.
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[kim]

I called him a puffed up toad for issuing threats and then challenged him to make good on his bluff. I'd really like to hear all that he has to say, and I'd like to hear what she says in response.
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[clarice]

Washington os overflowing with marty's second raters who've weaseled there way in somewhere and are so full of themselves they can't see straight.

[Rick Ballard]

I wonder when Marty first went on Obama's payroll. I don't wonder at McCain's lack of judgment in hiring him whatsoever.

[Elliott]

Hot Air and others say it's a hoax.

[centralcal]

Did any of you listen to the podcast of Greta setting O'Reilly straight on his radio show!

She flat out nailed it as gossip and rumors, rather than news. BOR was not happy about that and started spinning furiously in his own "no spin zone."

Plus, she says Cameron called her and said he was basically a tool.

LUN

[kim]

That would be very funny, Elliott. Sourcewatch is themselves suspect.
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[nationsoftheworldrun(dontbuyintothebigtentstupid)]

As we enter the Era of the painer; images of the past should be there, but aren't.

Your family will be ruined. They will be seeing things and hearing things and be pained. They will be used for diseases. Dems are luciferians and Obama is one. What did lucifeirnas do under Clinton? It won't be any different. Obama is just going to make them torture more and as your families are destroyed, driven insane and, this time, lose their money; I'm going to avoid the things and maybe they'll leave a non American alone.

It's not sex unless she's there otherwise it's a disease. Look at the thing, would you?

[Captain Hate]

Bush and Truman do have certain qualities in common.

Fortunately, GWB never inflicted any of his children's horrible piano playing on the American public; weapons of taste destruction.

[kim]

Argh, I should've known; I wondered about the making sure you get the pen that signed your bill. See the link to the description of the group.

Well done, someone.
====================

[Boatbuilder]

One of the wonderful things about freedom of speech is that it makes it so much easier to spot the idiots. And the cowards.
I think Sarah has said it all. What a petty, vindictive jerk.
I wonder if he was also the guy who prepped McCain for his highly persuasive explanation (not) of why Joe the Plumber's basic point--that high taxes on productive individuals are unfair and hurt the economy--was the key reason to vote for McCain and not Obama. (Did he even understand it?)
It is discouraging to know that the Republican "elitists" are even more small-minded and petty than I thought they were. That's pretty damn low.

[Boatbuilder]

Well--if it's a hoax its a good one. It got me. I'm trying to come up with a rational explanation for what the Republican (and fake Republican) elitists have been saying about Palin (just look at the comments on the "Eisenstadt" blog) and I am still at a loss. Either the "insiders" spilling this crap or the press weasels putting it out, or both, are lower than dirt--even if its true (which I don't buy for a second).

[centralcal]

Boatbuilder: It is a HOAX. This fools has pulled HOAXes before.

[clarice]

Boat--it's a hoax I'm sorry to say. I did't know that when I posted it, of course.

[kim]

Is it Amy Bradford? Even William K Wulfrum doesn't know for sure.
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