MyDD :: George W. Bush Now Has Highest Disapproval Rating in History

George W. Bush Now Has Highest Disapproval Rating in History

by Jonathan Singer, Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 01:54:12 PM EST

Earlier this month, I noted that George W. Bush's disapproval rating had finally topped Richard Nixon's worst, 67 percent to 66 percent. However, once in early 1952 Harry Truman's disapproval rating jumped up to 67 percent, meaning that Bush only tied for the lead for the greatest disapproval rating in modern history, according to Gallup (which started polling during the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt). Well, now Bush has the ignominious honor of holding the title of the highest ever disapproval rating all by himself.

President Bush has set a record he'd presumably prefer to avoid: the highest disapproval rating of any president in the 70-year history of the Gallup Poll.

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, 28% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing; 69% disapprove. The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt.

The previous record of 67% was reached by Harry Truman in January 1952, when the United States was enmeshed in the Korean War.

[...]

Views of Bush divide sharply along party lines. Among Republicans, 66% approve and 32% disapprove. Disapproval is nearly universal -- 91% -- among Democrats. Of independents, 23% approve, 72% disapprove of the job he's doing.

Although George W. Bush, himself, will not be on the ballot in November, this polling underscores in the importance -- indeed the necessity -- for the Democrats to ensure that he is effectively on the ballot. This cycle should only further the tactic from 2006 of showing Republican candidates, not the least of which John McCain, alongside (and, in the case of McCain, literally hugging) Bush. With a whopping 69 percent of Americans disapproving of President Bush -- and more importantly 72 percent of independents doing so -- if this election is about George W. Bush (as it was during the 2006 midterms, when the Democrats won nationally by 6 to 7 points), it would be difficult for the Democrats to lose.

Tags: George W. Bush, Approval Rating (all tags)

Permalink :: 21 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: (2.00 / 1)

i dont get how his approval numbers are still at 28%!

vote blue in 2008

by sepulvedaj3 on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 01:59:56 PM EST

Re: (none / 0)

He's at 28% beacuse of sheer stupidity on his own part. That figure would be much lower if the Democratic Party had an alternative vision of governance -- we don't. We have a collection of truisms that we've thrown at Republican talking points for 30 years.

McCain is talking about tax policy. (extremely bad tax policy, but policy none the less) while Hillary is busy getting indigent about "iron my shirt" and Obama wastes effort on trying to explain why he's not responsible for what his friends and neighbors think and do.

WAKE UP!

by MuddyWaters on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 03:11:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

He's number one --- He's number one (none / 0)

hip-hip-hoorah. I'm amazed it took this long.

by tonedevil on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 02:15:29 PM EST

Re: George W. Bush Now Has Highest Disapproval Rat (2.00 / 1)

28% approve. 69% disapprove. What are the 3% waiting for?

by anoregonreader on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 02:15:49 PM EST

Re: George W. Bush Now Has Highest Disapproval Rat (none / 0)

Cheerleading the opposition's failures doesn't explain why middle income workers pay 20-25% in taxes while Exxon Mobil pays 8%.

That 8% BTW is far more in dollars than what the bottom 50% of the entire tax base pays TOTAL.

Think of what kind of tax cut we could give the bottom 50% of income earners if we raised taxes on Exxon?

Nah, let's just hope voters hate Republicans enough to vote for us.

Progressive taxation? Nah, we don't want to get charged as tax and spend liberals.

by MuddyWaters on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 03:27:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: George W. Bush Now Has Highest Disapproval Rat (2.00 / 1)

Come to think of it, this sucker could get caught in bed with a live boy AND a dead girl, and the majority of Republicans would still approve of him. Can anyone say personality cult?

by anoregonreader on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 02:18:27 PM EST

I was in PA over the weekend (none / 0)

and didnt go online,

so just curious -- did anyone diary that 4 super
delegates came out in support of Clinton over the weekend?

Jim Florio (NJ)
Brendan Byrne (NJ)
Betty Sutton (OH)
Tim Ryan (OH)

I know Florio and Byrne endorsed her before, but they werent super delegates then.

vote blue in 2008

by sepulvedaj3 on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 02:22:26 PM EST

Re: George W. Bush Now Has Highest Disapproval Rat (none / 0)

Don't get too excited, this doesn't mean jack for November. As Republicans understand all too well, elections are all about matchups. And we're likely going in with possibly the most compromised, fatally flawed Dem candidate in modern times.

by Jim J on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 02:25:03 PM EST

Re: George W. Bush Now Has Highest Disapproval Rat (none / 0)

Nope. Elections are about Issues and platform. Republican propaganda has convinced Democrats it's about personality match-ups. Then we lose to bad policy while our candidates take shots, drink beer, and horde flag pins reacting blindly to Republican Propaganda -- beacuse we don't have any policy.

by MuddyWaters on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 03:14:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: George W. Bush Now Has Highest Disapproval Rat (none / 0)

I think the remainder 28% need to be rounded up and put on the Dr. Phil Show just to find out what it is that makes them this nuts. He should be in the minus column by now. Can we start with Fred Barnes?

by Pat J on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 02:27:45 PM EST

Re: George W. Bush Now Has Highest (none / 0)

And, yet, McCain could win. Hmmm.

Something wrong with this picture.

And Congressional Democrats still cave to Buish on the occupation.

Something wrong with this picture.

by TomP on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 02:36:43 PM EST

Re: George W. Bush Now Has Highest (none / 0)

Exactly. Reactionaries walking into opportunities with a vacuum.

Far, far too many Democrats don't have the slightest clue what to do without a Republican to disagree with.

Then they all stand around wondering how they possibly could have lost the election.

Progressivism. It's not for reactionaries. Build a party ideology. Think about issues -- not image. That should be the Democratic mantra.

by MuddyWaters on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 03:18:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

He should be happy... (none / 0)

... his place in history is now truly assured.

"Mom, baseball, apple pie, and a unified Democratic juggernaut."

by Purplepeople on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 02:41:15 PM EST

Re: He should be happy... (none / 0)

Not really. Even Hoover's place wasn't sealed without FDR. What as Democrats are we going to do is the question.

by MuddyWaters on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 03:21:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: George W. Bush Now Has Highest Disapproval (none / 0)

And you know, the sad thing is that if he could run for a third term, I bet he'd still have an above-average chance of winning. We as a country are that deluded.

by rfahey22 on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 02:41:27 PM EST

Re: George W. Bush Now Has Highest Disapproval (none / 0)

You are absolutely 100% incorrect. Democrats lost beacuse we ran terrible campaigns. I have nothing for contempt for Democrats that blame their failures on the stupidity of electorate. The very premise of that stance precludes victory. It's defeatist and rampant in some segments of the Democratic electorate. I'd do anything to purge this mindset from Democrats.

Here are the cold facts. Al Gore ceded his best issue to Nadar and lost beacuse of it. He distanced himself from his core issue, stupidly believing that would make him more electable by 'centering' himself.

Firstly, he lost voters that care about the environment. Secondly, he annoyed voters by treating them like idiots. . as if they forgot about his core issue.

Kerry lost becasue he ran as "The Decider II". When I saw him salute, "I'm John Kerry reporting for duty" I knew we would lose. The electorate needs a choice, not Cod-Piece Redux. In short they stayed with the Genuine Cod-Piece in Chief -- who needs the copy cat?

That's why we lose. Because there are way too many Democrats that think the electorate are morons.

DO NOT show up in duck blinds if you've never been hunting in your life. ESPECIALLY when it's prompted by a bunch of right wing idiots screaming about wind surfing.

Americans don't care that much about what church you go to, how many flag pins you wear, how gun-hoe you are about invading and killing your enemies. . . they care about being genuine.

Once that requirement is met, they then focus on policy. Our problem is that we've been on a Right-wing snipe hunt for Flag pins for the last 30 years while they build a cohesive ideological party.

That's what Obama is talking about when he calls the Republicans the party of ideas. It's because it's true

And it doesn't matter that their platform is a disaster. They have one, and we don't.

If we want to control the debate rather than react to right wing talking points, we have to build a progressive ideology

by MuddyWaters on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 03:05:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

#1 thing to take away from this: (none / 0)

Republican malfeasance is not an endorsement of Democratic leadership.

This is where the "anybody but Bush" bandwagon doomed Democrats in 2004.

by MuddyWaters on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 02:49:24 PM EST

Very Well Deserving Approval Rating (none / 0)

Bush earned every point of his disapproval rating. Once, he outdid his father and became the most popular president in the history of this Republic. But he didn't learn from LBJ and got us stuck in Iraq by lying to the American people. He reduced our civil liberties, weakened our economy, and was helpless in the aftermath of Katrina. One of the worst presidents in history.

Dizzy Zzyzzy

by Zzyzzy on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 03:08:22 PM EST

Re: Liberal Base NEVER Get this (none / 0)

This is ONE BIG CONCEPT that majority of the liberal base NEVER EVER gets.

In fact, many of them in the liberal netroots are guilty of this.

They erroneously believe that its One plus One is automatically two.

But in many cases, its One plus One equals One game.

What is that concept?

Its the FALSE concept that just because Bush is & has been in the poll gutter for the past 8 years & seems to be at the lowest - its the VERY ERRONEOUS assumption that a Barack Obama will automatically beat a John McCain because of Poor Pollings by Bush & the Republicans.

When that is far, very far from reality.

Its a total disconnect from reality.

Just like its a TOTAL DISCONNECT that Liberals somehow TAKE CREDIT for the 2006 Victory as some Earth moving sign of americans moving to the Left of Center.

When in reality, majority of americans were voting against Bush. But that same group of americans would have Absolutely No Quals Voting for a NEW Republican President in John McCain over a perceived "liberal with No Experience" like Obama.

All polls point to that. Can you imagine if the Economy was a little better? If Gas prices were little lower? If Iraq was somewhat better?

McCain would be beating Obama today by 15 points.

For McCain to even be in a position to either be tried or leading in states like NY,NJ,MA & PA against democratic frontrunner Obama shows HOW WEAK OUR PARTY is.

There is & never was a Change in american attitude.

A Very Clear Majority of Americans are STILL & have ALWAYS been in CENTER/ RIGHT of CENTER.

With the very brief period in the radical 60's, a Clear Majority of Americans are & have always been right in the MIDDLE & leaning right in some social issues such as marriage, guns, gays, immigration, affirmative action.

Its ALL ABOUT PERCEPTION of the Democratic Party & Democrats in general.

Always Remember history.

It Took a Joint Ticket of Two White Southern men ( Bill Clinton & Al Gore) were one was considered a moderate/conservative Southern Governor to FINALLY WIN the WHITE HOUSE!

Then the party followed it up with GOING BACK to the old " Liberal Perceptions" that doomed people like Ted Kennedy, Jackson, Mondale, Dukakis.

We went back to two men who were considered by MAJORITY of American voters as " Tax & Spend ". Weak of National Security Liberals in Gore & Kerry.

Unfortunately, the BASE of our party NEVER has & NEVER WILL GET IT.

Let me end by REMINDING people of a Fact that many intentionally IGNORE. Hope supercedes reality for this people.

" Only 5 African-Americans have EVER won as Governor or Senator in our entire history. 4 of the 5 CAME from ONLY TWO STATES. The two which happens to be as BLUE as can be. ( IL & MA )

Only 5 have done it in a poll of 3 states.

Today, the IDEALISTIC Liberal base of the party wants to Sell Us that America, the 50 states of the United States of America can elect a VERY INEXPERIENCED Liberal African-American from Chicago into NATIONAL OFFICE.

The same america that could NOT elect Blacks to statewide office & NOW is being asked to carry a Black Man with No Experience to WIN A NATIONAL REFERRENDUM!

This is an exercise we go thru every two decades.

by libdemusa on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 03:40:33 PM EST

Re: Liberal Base NEVER Get this (none / 0)

Your entire post encapsulates why Democrats lose. A bunch of crap about liberals. Sorry. Democrats lose by pretending to be conservatives and lacking a cohesive progressive agenda.

Clinton, Clinton supporters, and entire DLC establishment have been the worst thing for the Democratic party.

Losses in the 70s and 80s are completely due to 'New Leftism' which supplanted 'New Deal' Democrats. 'New Leftism' is a loosely defined set of attitudes that can be summed up as 'identity politics'.

It was composed of truisms like "woman and minorities are equal"

That's fine, but it doesn't tell you if Carol Mosley Braun or Ann Coulter have better tax policies.

For that reason, Republicans have dominated the debate. The Republican's got away with calling this a center-right nation beacuse Democrats were busy slinging truisms without thinking about policy.

No, I'm sorry, but I don't buy Republican Propaganda no matter how many cap-locks are involved.

by MuddyWaters on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 03:59:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: George W. Bush Now Has Highest Disapproval (none / 0)

jonathan, it may be difficult for democrats to lose, but don't put anything past us. after all, we're about to nominate obama--who's just what the gop ordered to snatch our defeat from the jaws of victory. whoo hoo!

by nance on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 12:34:56 AM EST

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