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Is Biden Really Less Popular Than Cheney?

Nope! Recent Gallup numbers don't give whole picture

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 28, 2009 1:47 PM CDT
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(Newser) – The latest Gallup numbers look bad for Joe Biden. His approval rating has sunk to 42%, which seems to put him way below the 55% Al Gore averaged in his first year, and way, way below the 65% Cheney averaged in his. Say it ain’t so! “OK, it ain’t so,” writes Marc Ambinder for the Atlantic. The comparisons are muddled by time; Cheney, for example, got the same 9/11 boost his boss did.

And remember, this is before Cheney became the controversial, deeply unpopular figure he is today—we thought he was the “adult” keeping Dubya in line. As for Gore, his popularity was, like Biden’s in the mid-to-high 40s, until he got a spike for confronting Ross Perot on NAFTA. It is true, of course, that Biden is less popular than he was. But he’s also enormously influential—that rating might just reflect the heavy lifting he’s been doing.

Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the announcement that Fisker Automotive will produce plug-in hybrid electric vehicles at the former General Motors plant in Wilmington, Del, Oct. 27, 2009.
Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the announcement that Fisker Automotive will produce plug-in hybrid electric vehicles at the former General Motors plant in Wilmington, Del, Oct. 27, 2009.   (AP Photo/Rob Carr)
Vice President Joe Biden reacts before being presented with the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund's distinguished service award, Oct. 26, 2009, on Capitol Hill.
Vice President Joe Biden reacts before being presented with the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund's distinguished service award, Oct. 26, 2009, on Capitol Hill.   (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 17 comments
Thinker
Oct 28, 2009 11:18 AM CDT
I love him too. He's like a breath of fresh air. He speaks his mind and doesn't try to hide anything. He even contradicts Obama sometime, and that's cool.
Mia
Oct 28, 2009 10:19 AM CDT
I LOVE BIDEN!
RobN
Oct 28, 2009 8:12 AM CDT
Really it's pretty hard to get worked up over poll numbers for vice-president. But the numbers are what they are. It doesn't mean that Joe won't be more popular in year two or four or whatever, but people have always compared figures at similar points in their term and you can't say it doesn't count because this time it's your guy. It matters a lot more what that number is at the end than what it is at the beginning, anyway.

 
Joe Biden • Dick Cheney • Al Gore • vice president • approval ratings • poll numbers • Marc Ambinder

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