Another Poll (IBD) has Bush's Approval at 52%.

[Brotherjohn]

The latest Investor's Business Daily poll has Bush's approval rating at 52% (51.9). http://www.investors.com/editorial/general.asp?v=9/10

Note they combine "Job Approval", "Leadership", and "Favorability" ratings all into one "Presidential Leadership Index". They're all dropping, but it's the Job Approval number that most polls use as his "support" level (see http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm).

The article is a bit confusing because of the "index" they use, but I'm sure it'll pop up on pollingreport.com and the Pollkatz site (http://www.pollkatz.homestead.com/) within a day or two. I'm not too clear on why they say it's his lowest job approval rating of his presidency, when the other two sites have 7 IBD polls showing him in the 40s pre-9-11. I'm also not clear on what they mean when they say "His job approval rating dived 5.8 points, or 10.1%, to 51.9." (I think they mean since April, but why the two numbers?) But either way, what IS clear that his job approval numbers are significantly down in this poll, just as with other polls lately.

As the media always try to cast the best light on his plummeting poll numbers, they point out that "Even so, Bush's job approval rating is near the norm for recent presidents at this point in their first term. President Clinton had an approval rating of under 50% at the same time in his first term." Yet I don't think any president has seen such a precipitous and consistent decline in job approval throughout his term. It seems the only thing that ever prevented him from hovering down into the 40s or below from the beginning of his term was 9-11, as demonstrated so graphically in Pollkatz's wonderful "Bush Approval: Raw Poll Data" chart, which I'm always looking for an excuse to post (or just look at; ain't it a beaut?).

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. Time for a terrorist attack...

...overseas, or one averted -- in a highly visible way, traceable directly to the provisions of the PATRIOT act -- at home.

I'm long on duct tape, and shorting the Bill of Rights.

[joeybee12]

2. I'm impressed that only 52% of Amreicans are insane...

...when this administration has cut health care funding.

[fsbooks]

6. Just some math for you.

The current rating: 51.9%
The old rating 51.9 + 5.8 = 57.7%

10.1% * 57.7 = 5.8

Hence the rating dropped 5.8 points, or 10.1% of the old rating (which was 57.7%.

[Brotherjohn]

7. Got it. Thanks (I was stuck on % as % of the total 100).

nt

[Don_G]

3. Interesting Way To Arrange Data

And isolate the right-wing publications, but I LOVE the way all the numbers are headed for the basement and when.

[MetaTrope]

4. Funny to see that the Wall Street Journal polls

are always the lowest...and this after all Junior has done for business?

[Beetwasher]

5. I think that's Am/Rsch group

WSJ seems to be pretty close to the mean...

[Brotherjohn]

8. I think MetaTrope is referring to the IBD/CSM poll...

While not the WSJ, Investor's business daily is certainly a publication by and for the business sector, so the point is still valid.

Pollkatz rates the polls by how low or high they typically rate Bush's approval, and these two, along with Zogby and Ipsos-Reid, are the lowest four.

Not surprisingly, Fox is number one (rate Bush the highest), followed by ABC/WP, CBS/NYT and Gallup.

Certainly, looking at all of the polls together, Bush is somewhere in the low 50s (and dropping precipitously).

[Beetwasher]

9. Yeah, I dunno

I thought maybe he confuse the yellow diamond with the yellow triangle...Easy enough to confuse at a glance and clearly the AmRsch had him the lowest, especially right after 9/11...But I hesitate to speak for another poster (or maybe I don't ;-)) :shrug: