Bush Presidency Closes With 34% Approval, 61% Disapproval

[onehandle]

Source: Gallup

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Jan. 9-11, finds 34% of Americans approving of the overall job George W. Bush is doing as president and 61% disapproving. Those ratings are a shade better than what Bush has received for most of the past year, and may represent the kind of lame-duck approval bounce Gallup has seen for other presidents.

Bush had been averaging a 29% approval rating for the last quarter of his presidency up to now -- identical to his average approval ratings for each of the previous two quarters. Individual Gallup approval readings on Bush exceeded that figure several times in the past year, including a 33% reading in September. However, the current 34% approval score is Bush's highest since January 2008, and a sharp improvement from the 25% recorded right before the November elections.

Bush mainly has members of his own party to thank for the fact that he is ending his presidency with an approval rating above 30%. Republicans' approval of him rose from 67% in mid-December to 75% in the current poll -- their highest rating of Bush in nearly a year. By contrast, approval of Bush remains extremely scarce among Democrats, and continues to fall under 30% among independents.

snip...

Those with the highest job approval at the conclusion of their presidencies were all two-term presidents: Bill Clinton, with 66% approval; Ronald Reagan, with 63%; and Dwight Eisenhower, with 59%. However, even two presidents who were rebuffed by voters in their efforts to seek a second term -- George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford -- received majority approval in their final days. Close to half of Americans also approved of the job Lyndon Johnson was doing in the final days of his administration.

Read more: http://www.gallup.com/poll/113770/Bush-Presidency-Closes-34-Approval-61-Disapproval.aspx

[BOSSHOG]

1. Americans are more approving of

blowjobs and peace and prosperity then they are of lying, war and religious zealotry. Good for us.

[Lagomorph]

2. I find it hard to believe that there are still 5% of Americans

who don't give a damn.

[Spouting Horn]

7. I find it hard to believe

that 1/3 of Americans still support this trash.

[superconnected]

12. Don't let it surprise you. It's like the 10% rule - 10% will always vote

for something that will even hurt themselves.

[No Elephants]

3. Whatcha mean "closes?" He still has a few days. Don't misunderestimate him. He

can still do things that will make it go lower.

[enuegii]

4. One person in three STILL believes...

Bushboy did a decent job? I find that extremely hard to believe. If that's indeed true, hell, let's just throw up our damned hands and surrender to whoever is foolish enough to be willing to take responsibility for our sorry asses.

[tclambert]

19. Earth humans are stupid.

The alien in Plan 9 from Outer Space said that. He was so-o right.

[PM Martin]

5. 1 out of 3 still approve of this swine.

Sounds like Canada, where only 1 out of 3 worship Steve Harper and the other 2 out of 3 despise him.

[aquart]

6. Unfuckingbelievable.

Is it the meds in our water supply?

[OneBlueSky]

8. so we're a nation of 34% horses' asses? . . . sounds about right . . . n/t

.

[Enrique]

9. he got a pity bump n/t

[elifino]

10. As bad as Bush's approval rating is, look at Congress

http://www.gallup.com/poll/108856/Congressional-Approval-Hits-RecordLow-14.aspx

Bottom Line

Gallup's latest monthly update of public approval of Congress leads to several observations:

1.
As economic conditions in the country are worsening, Congress is taking the brunt of it. Since the start of the year, public approval of Congress has fallen from 23% to 14%, while approval of President George W. Bush has been more stable: 32% approved of the job he was doing in early January versus 31% today, with a range of just 28% to 34%.
2.
One reason for the growing congressional/Bush approval gap is that Bush benefits from a core group of Republicans nationally who continue to stick by him (67% of whom approve in the latest poll), and who, at this point, are likely to remain supportive of him through the close of his term. This contrasts with the paltry 11% of Democrats who currently approve of the job Congress is doing. By its nature, Congress may simply be less able to engender this kind of political loyalty -- it typically trails the sitting president in approval -- and thus, the current Democratic Congress lacks a reliable pool of Democratic support to keep its approval ratings afloat.
3.
Still, the Democratic Congress has received much less intra-party support for its leadership of the kind that the Republican Congress enjoyed from Republicans in 2006. The mild honeymoon the current Congress enjoyed with its own party at the start of last year quickly faded as Democrats grew upset with congressional inaction on Iraq and immigration reform.
4.
Finally, 2008 now looks an awful lot like 1979, and for some of the same reasons: mounting inflation, record-high gas prices, and a looming recession. Public approval of President Jimmy Carter in mid-July 1979 was 29%, very similar to Bush's current 31%. And approval of Congress was also comparable: 19% in June 1979 vs. 14% today.

I am some amazed that the Pubs have a higher approval rating of Congress than Dems

[Submariner]

13. The Pubs were obstructionists since 2006

threatening the nuclear filibustering, so their constituents gave them higher marks than the Dems who could not move anything forward due to constant obstruction, thus Dems got a lower rating.

[Baby Snooks]

11. Hmmmmm...

In a perfect world, this would mean that 34% of the population represented 75% of the Republicans which would mean they are no longer a majority. Of course in a perfect world, his approval rate at this point would be 0% because he would have been removed from office two years ago.

I find it hard to believe he has a 34% approval rating but then this is the result of a poll and to me the only accurate polls are the ones where we go to vote.

[scytherius]

14. And those 34% should NOT be allowed to procreate. n/t

nt

[ExPatLeftist]

15. Always the bump at the end.

People like to try to convince themselves that the past in which they participated "wasn't so bad".

This is ridiculous - Chimpy deserves to go out with his 20, no more.

This reminds me of when Nixon died and all of the sudden the MSM concluded that he was "a great American".

A large portion of the nation are masters of denial.

[sofa king]

16. No doubt his adopting the future President's domestic and foreign policies have helped.

But it doesn't matter, 'cause the people who approve of you are the fools who will also vote for the next ignorant gangster to come along. So screw them and you, George W. Bush, Worst President Ever.

[Doctor_J]

17. Operation Whitewash is working

34% of americans are brainwashed losers. Blow up Big Media, now.

[santamargarita]

18. I don't believe that we have a 34% population of Fascists!

Of course I always hear people comment about the fascist third.

[damntexdem]

20. Way too high an approval level.

How can 1/3 of Americans be so utterly dumb?

[struggle4progress]

21. Latest NBC/WSJ has * down 67 to 27

http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm
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