Confidence in Bush Still Plunging: Poll

Ratings hit their lowest yet on war's 5th anniversary

(NEWSER) - More than two-thirds of Americans now think George W. Bush is doing a poor job, according to a new poll that pegged his approval rate at 31%—a new low. The director of the CNN poll noted that the hefty 40-point drop in Bush's approval ratings since the start of the Iraq war mirrors the plunge in Lyndon Johnson's popularity as the war in Vietnam dragged on. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama's job-approval rating slipped to 50% in Gallup poll results out today, a new low for the 10-month-old administration, the Los Angeles Times reports. The drawn-out health care reform debate apparently is dragging down the number, which hit 69% after the inauguration. The disapproval number is 43%. "It's real easy to stay popular in Washington if you don't do anything at all," a White House rep said. More»

Obama's making Bush look good

(NEWSER) - George W. Bush left office with the lowest approval rating since Richard Nixon, while Obama took over with stratospheric numbers. But then a funny thing happened: “America woke up from its 2008 trance and is concluding that Bush was never as bad, and Obama never as good, as advertised,” writes Victor Davis Hanson of the National Review . Bush’s favorability ratings have soared—Ohio, for example, would now prefer him to Obama by a 50-42 margin. More»

Latest numbers show steady decline for president

(NEWSER) - Only 50% of respondents to a recent poll say they prefer Barack Obama to George W. Bush, with 44% saying they’d like Dubya back. Given Bush’s vast unpopularity at the end of his term, that’s probably the most troubling number for the president in the latest Public Policy Polling results. The poll gives him a 49% approval rating for December, essentially unchanged from November. More»

Popularity is fleeting in today's climate; he's got tons of time

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama’s approval rating is dropping, but that’s “dog bites man” stuff, writes Paul Maslin of Salon. Every president sees his approval rating drop. Obama’s drop has been markedly precipitous—from 69% to 54%—but here’s why he needn’t worry:

• Since the dawn of mass media, approval ratings have steadily declined, from an average 71% for Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson to 56% for Clinton and the two Bushes. “The numbers of old are simply unattainable.”