Bush v. Nixon Approval Ratings

[Raven]

Interesting chart by the NYT back in August 2005. If I'm reading it correctly, Nixon was in better shape than Bush even as he wallowed in Watergate.

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2005/08/08/opinion/09opart.1.ready.html

[Cooley Hurd]

1. Very interesting...

The economic indicators tell a story, don't they?:think:

[Raven]

2. Yes, I thought so too and

wonder if the Plame story would be such a big one if people were feeling a little more confident about their economic future. Also, the favorable ratings on Congress are interesting.

[Cooley Hurd]

3. The Nixon/Reagan era congressional favorability ratings are when...

...we controlled congress. The Clinton/Bush era ratings are when congress was under republican control. That alone speaks volumes.:thumbsup:

[Labors of Hercules]

5. huge volumes... I bet if we saw the same stats issued today his numbers would be far worse...

across the board.

[Lobster Martini]

4. Right point, wrong data

This table shows Nixon's approval rating in July 1973. That was before the Saturday Night Massacre and before the House Judiciary Committee started impeachment hearings. At that point, Nixon's approval ratings plummeted like a pig thrown from a helicopter. (Sorry about that unfortunate analogy, it was all I could think of.)

However, another way to look at the data is to note that George W.'s approval rating fell further than Nixon's, from about 90% to 31%. Nixon's approval rating fell faster, but not as far.

[Lobster Martini]

6. The polarization numbers are interesting, though

It is interesting that Nixon's approval ratings among Republicans and among Democrats are the closest and Reagan's are the most disparate. Nixon may not have been the most popular President, but he had more or less equal support from both parties, at least at that time.

(Self-edited. Lousy typist)