Bush is at 35% Approval...with a Bullet

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http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/5725.html

* - (click the link above to see the graph).

For a little context - even at the height of Monica-Gate, Clinton never dipped below 57%. Barring withdrawal from Iraq, a complete house-cleaning (firing Rove, Rummie, etc.) and a teary-eyed public apology w/ promise to set things right, I don't see how he's likely to rebound too much. I don't see him getting above 50% again, personally. But then again - I didn't think his marks would even get this low, so I could of course be wrong.

[ November 04, 2005, 22:50: Message edited by: Death Rabbit ]

 

So does this mean that if he finally gets below 30%, we can kick his a$$ out?

 

It's interesting to note that all the presidents shown had their ups and downs. All except Bush, which seems on a steady never-changing down since the previous term.

Makes me wonder just how incompetent the competition was. You'd think that when the current president is so unpopular, it shouldn't be too easy for him not to get re-elected.

 

You'd think so, wouldn't you. Never underestimate the power of a well-orchestrated smear campaign.

 

Thank you for the graphic, Death Rabbit. I remember the Watergate years quite well, and hope we will soon see a downward-spriralling plume of smoke in an azure sky. Still, let's not underestimate these people who have shown themselves so capable at manipulating perception, however inept their policy. Meaning, don't count your chickens before they've come home to roost.

 

Well, George II was still quite popular in the time leading up to the election. However, his popularity at that time was still down from something like the 80 percent approval rating he enjoyed during the run-up to the Iraq War. A lot has happened in the year since the election and it has taken a heavy toll on George and the Republicans: Katrina and the terrible response, Tom DeLay and his arrogance towards the American Justice system, the Plame Case and Harriet Miers dovetailed all at once and gave them a pretty big hit.

How well they can recover still remains to be seen. But the Dems appear to be making a comeback of sorts, and if they can sustain something, they may be able to make some inroads in the next election. If they can't sustain anything then the Republicans won't be all the bad off. Nevertheless, the American people have the attention of the party in power, and regardless of which party it is in the final count, that can't be a bad thing.

 

Interesting graph, there. I wonder what happens when he gets below The Nixon Line. I doubt he will resign, unless he makes a huge mistake at around that time.

 

I wouldn't hold your breath for that, either. Bush, when asked today by reporters how he felt about his dismal numbers, replied that he doesn't pay attention to opinion polls, just on furthering his agenda. Ummmm...yup.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to hear this coming from some dictator who rose to power through a coup, but in a democratic country, coming from a man who claimed to be the last bastion of freedom in the world, it's shocking.

With such selfishness and arrogant contempt for the electorate I wouldn't be surprised if his approval rating keeps going downhill.

 

Hardly matters, at this side of the ocean at least. He won the election (for the second time), so he'll be staying in his office until the time to vote comes again. That remark about smear-campaign was interesting, but considering what the opinion was even before he was re-elected, I doubt it's about that.

 

Acutally, Wirhe's got a point - until something impeachable comes to light (overt evidence of criminal behaviour), 'Junior' is secure in the Oval Office until Nov, 2008.

And since the Grand Ol' Party pushed for the two-term limit to the presidency (to finally lever FDR outta office ) he has NO pressure or expectation on him; he CAN'T run in 2008 even if he wanted to, so why would he care about public approval ratings?

(Though one wonders what may be planned for late 2007/early 2008 to make plausible a motion to suspend this limit so Chancellor Palpatine - er, President 'Junior' can remain in office "for the duration of this emergency." )

But Wirhe? If you're talking about Deathrabbit's comments on a 'smear campaign' - you may be taking it out of context. Ziad commented

(well he won't run in '08, but likely if this state of affairs doesn't change, the Democrats are a shoo-in with the Republicans being in such disfavour)

to which DR replied:

Which I infer - correct me if I'm wrong - that there's still a chance for a revealed scandal on the Democratic Party to tip approval back to the Republican Party's side enough for their candidate to succeed from Junior.

 

No - what I meant was that had it not been for a group of sleezebag, lying Republican stooges - ironically named "Swift Boat Veterans For Truth - we'd be discussing John Kerry's crappy poll numbers instead of Bush's. That's the smear campaign I was referring to.

Not that the SBVT were the only reason Kerry lost - there were many. But as close as the final tally was, it's highly likely that the 51/48 split would have been tipped Kerry's way.

As for it not mattering because he's still Pres until '08 - I disagree. Unpopular Presidents have a very difficult time getting anything accomplished or leaving a decent legacy. Since the House and Senate are all up for re-election more frequently, they will oppose or support the President depending on his popularity. Shake his hand in photo ops galore when his numbers are up, avoid him like the plague when they're down. This is especially important when it comes to his agenda. Don't like Bush's policies? With approval ratings like these, he isn't likely to get anything constructive done until they at least get back into the 50's. For evidence of this - see Bush's plan to privatize social security. It was all but a sure thing 6 months ago, now it's dead in the water.

Also, Nixon didn't resign until quite some time after Watergate, as the chart demonstrates. There comes a time when a President's approval ratings get so low - and the public gets so fed up with him - that he steps down on his own. (note: I may be fudging my Nixon history a little bit here, so anyone is welcome to correct me).

Will that be the case? Probably not. But these approval ratings pretty much guarantee Bush won't be thought of fondly in the history books.

 

Guess so. Ironically, I remember him preaching about "how America needs a strong leader", and instead of voting for Kerry, US chose the weaker one.

 

President's don't resign because of low approval ratings but to avoid impeachment. To be impeached it has to be proven that he did something criminal.

Edit: That is a bit of oversimplification.

 

Bush won't resign unless it appears he may be charged with something criminal, and there is a small chance that may happen, which is one of the reasons why the Dems are fighting hard to get at the truth over the phony intel that led up to the Iraq War. However, there is a chance that Cheney may resign if the fire gets too close to him. That way Bush can pardon both Libby and Cheney at the same time before he leaves office and neither will have to face jail time. Bush can get away with that scenario because he won't be running for office again and he does not have to face the wrath of the American people. But his party will - if that occurs.