Everybody Hates Bush

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Rspaight
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Everybody Hates Bush

Postby Rspaight » Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:25 am

In the twilight of his administration, George W. Bush has at last found his legacy, and has finally outperformed his father:

Bush’s 69% Job Disapproval Rating Highest in Gallup History
Truman had 67% in 1952

by Frank Newport

PRINCETON, NJ -- President George W. Bush's disapproval rating is at 69% -- which is not only the highest of the Bush administration, but the highest disapproval rating in Gallup Poll history.

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President Bush's approval rating now is at 28%, which ties for the lowest of his administration, but is not the lowest in Gallup Poll history. Harry Truman reached a 22% approval rating in 1952, and Richard Nixon had two 24% job approval scores in 1974.

In other words, although Bush's disapproval rating is the highest in Gallup history, his approval rating is not the lowest. This seeming anomaly is mostly because of differences over the years in the percentage of respondents who say "don't know/no opinion" when asked to rate a president.

Harry Truman's 22% approval rating was accompanied by a 64% disapproval rating, leaving 14% of those interviewed who did not offer an opinion about his job performance. Richard Nixon's two 24% job approval ratings in 1974 were paired with 63% and 66% disapproval ratings, leaving 13% and 10% with no opinion.

In the most recent poll for Bush, his approval rating is 28% while his disapproval rating is 69%, leaving only 3.5% (rounded to 4%) who don't have an opinion.

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There is no single explanation for why the percentage who decline to give an opinion of the president's job performance is lower now than in the past. However, one hypothesis is as follows. When Gallup polled in the Truman and Nixon years, respondents may have been more likely to say they didn't have an opinion in lieu of saying they disapproved of the president. In other words, respondents who did not approve of the president's performance -- rather than flat-out saying they disapproved -- may have simply told interviewers they didn't have an opinion.

Today, as the percentage of "no opinion" responses to the presidential job approval question has declined, Americans appear to be more willing to give a negative response, resulting in the situation in which Bush's disapproval rating is at a record high while his approval rating is not at a record low.

Interviewing in the Truman and Nixon years was conducted in respondents' homes rather than by telephone, which may be related to some differences in the percentages of respondents who gave "no opinion" answers to the job approval question. But an interesting contrast is provided by polling conducted in the administration of the current president's father, George H.W. Bush, who in one poll in 1992 had a 29% approval rating -- only one point higher than his son's current approval rating. In that 1992 poll, the senior Bush had only a 60% disapproval rating, leaving 11% with no opinion, similar to the "no opinion" percentages in the Truman and Nixon polls. Yet the 1992 poll was conducted by telephone in similar fashion to polling today, suggesting that the mode of interviewing per se is perhaps not the sole explanation for the differences over the years.

It may well be that the current president Bush is simply a more polarizing figure, one who generates strong opinions in the negative direction and therefore fewer ambivalent, no-opinion responses than was the case for George H.W. Bush, Truman, or Nixon at the nadirs of their administrations.

The bottom line remains that -- perhaps for several reasons -- the 69% disapproval rating generated by the current president is the highest such rating recorded over the years in which Gallup has been measuring the public's approval and disapproval of each president's job performance.

Survey Methods

Results for the current poll, including the latest George W. Bush approval ratings, are based on telephone interviews with 1,016 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted April 18-20, 2008. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on land-line telephones (for respondents with a land-line telephone) and cellular phones (for respondents who are cell-phone only).

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney

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Postby Matt » Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:20 pm

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approval_rating

Highest approval rating:
George W. Bush holds the record with 92% (10/8-9/2001 -- after the September 11 attacks).
George H.W. Bush is second highest, with 89% (2/28/-3/3/1991 -- after the Gulf War).
Harry S. Truman is third highest, with 87% (6/1-5/1945 -- after the End of World War II in Europe).
Franklin D. Roosevelt is fourth highest, with 84% (1/8-13/1942 -- after the Attack on Pearl Harbor).

Lowest approval rating:
George W. Bush holds the record at 19% (2/16-19/08 -- during the Iraq War).
Harry S. Truman is the second lowest, at 22% (2/9-14/1952 -- during the Korean War).
Richard Nixon is third lowest, with 24% (7/12-15/1974, 8/2-5/1974 -- during the Watergate scandal).
Jimmy Carter is fourth lowest, with 28% (6/29-7/2/79 -- during the Iran hostage crisis).
-Matt

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Postby Rspaight » Fri May 23, 2008 9:37 am

Would you believe... 23 percent approval?

It is, of course, supremely ironic that the final nail in Bush's popularity coffin was driven in by... oil prices.

Of course, Everyone Hates Congress, too, which is unsurprising given their usual mix of spinelessness and pandering.

(Bolding mine.)

Economic fears darken U.S. mood
Wed May 21, 2008 12:57pm BST
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Growing anxiety about their economic prospects and deep unhappiness with President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress plunged Americans into a dark mood this month, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

The Reuters/Zogby Index, which measures the mood of the country, fell dramatically to 87.9, down from 95.5 in April, as nine of the 10 measures of public opinion used in the Index dropped.

Concerns about the direction of the country and personal finances rose sharply, and dissatisfaction with Bush, Congress and the administration's economic and foreign policy all climbed.

Bush's approval rating fell 4 percentage points to 23 percent, a record low for pollster John Zogby, and positive marks for the U.S. Congress fell 5 points to tie an all-time low at 11 percent.

The number of Americans who believe the country is on the right track fell from 23 percent to an abysmal 16 percent, another record for pessimism, as uncertainty about the economy and rising gas prices fuelled growing doubts about the future.


"Bad economic news is settling in and Americans are getting anxiety ridden," Zogby said.

"By any objective standard, when you look at economic indicators, there is no good news for people to read about or hear," he said. "Most economic indicators are pointing downward and Americans are absorbed by that."

Consumer confidence fell to a 28-year low this month as rising prices strained household finances, the economy shed jobs, the housing market struggled and the cost of gasoline rose to $4 a gallon.
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney

LesPaul666
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Postby LesPaul666 » Sun Jun 01, 2008 6:14 pm

How could you *not* hate this son of a bi***