May Approval Ratings of Recent Incumbent Presidents (Fun Facts!)

[VolcanoJen]

Fascinating stats from CNN and Bill Schneider... I'm sure most of us know the drill, but it's encouraging to read it again, in light of Bush's sinking approval ratings (42% in Saturday's Newsweek poll, 46% in Friday's CNN/Time poll, for example!).

Read and enjoy, my DU lovelies!!

Approval Ratings - MAY of Election Year

Presidents who went on to win reelection:

1972 - Nixon - 62%
1984 - Reagan - 54%
1996 - Clinton - 55%

Presidents who were defeated:

1976 - Ford - 47%
1980 - Carter - 38%
1992 - Bush I - 37%

Schneider went on to point out that in May, the incumbent presidents who were eventually defeated actually held sizeable leads over their challengers at this point in the race. (Ford in 1976 was the exception; he was pretty much doomed, and never elected in the first place, kind of like someone else we know!) This time around, the challenger, Kerry, is holding around a 5-point lead in most polls. Schneider says that the numbers, any way you shake them, do not bode well for Chimpy...

Choice For President - Defeated Incumbent Presidents

May 1976
Ford: 40%
Carter: 53%

May 1980
Carter: 40%
Reagan: 32%

May 1992
Bush I: 35%
Clinton: 25% (even Ross Perot was leading Clinton at this point)

Choice For President - Incumbent Presidents Who Won Reelection

May 1972
Nixon: 53%
McGovern: 34%

May 1984
Reagan: 53%
Mondale: 43%

May 1996
Clinton: 49%
Dole: 34%

ON EDIT: Source: CNN International; copied from my TV screen (thanks, Tivo!). Each poll cited was a Gallup Poll from that year.

[slor]

1. Thank You!!!

That made my day!! And so early too!

[VolcanoJen]

2. Happy I could help you kick off your Sunday!!

:D

I, on the other hand, am suffering from a wicked bout of insomnia...

[izzie]

3. Nice but I never spend money until it is in my hands

I'll wait to Nov thank you.

[Catt03]

6. Me too

Bush/Rove are dysfunctional....never know what to expect. I remain hypervigilant.

[VolcanoJen]

7. For izzie and Catt...

... you don't have to take it to the bank, but historical polling and trend information should at least light a fire under each of our asses... we have momentum, the historical data is encouraging, and we have quite a lot to build upon.

Please consider becoming a Deputy Voter Registrar today.

One heart... one mind... one voter at a time!!

[radfringe]

4. a few more numbers for a Sunday morning

http://www.pollingreport.com/





averaging out the numbers:
bush* = 39%
Kerry = 47%

[VolcanoJen]

5. Who are the 33% who think Bush is better than Kerry on the environment??

CEOs of mining firms? Overseers of landfills? Employees of the logging industry? Lovers of increasing mercury levels?? Gale Norton and family?

WTF? :shrug:

[Merlin]

8. Ahhhhh, there's the Tipping Point !

The point where the lines have crossed! Thank God ahmitey!!!

Now let's finish the job!

[elperromagico]

9. Interesting to note that none of Shrub's numbers cross 50%,

while five of Kerry's pass the halfway point.