Obama's approval ratings by numbers

[thewiseguy]

Please do not flame me. All I am going to do is to illustrate by Gallup's numbers where Obama is losing his support.



This is Obama's approval numbers along party lines.



Obama's ratings in the low 40% range are not unusual in historical context. All presidents since Lyndon Johnson have suffered ratings below 40% at points in their presidencies, with several falling below 30%. Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Clinton were -- like Obama -- in the low 40% range during August of the second year of their presidencies. President George W. Bush left office in January 2009 with a 34% approval rating.

A president's job approval ratings are related to his party's success in midterm elections. Presidents with ratings below 50% have seen their party lose 36 seats on average in midterm House elections -- with a range of 11 to 55 seats lost. A continuation of Obama's current pattern of approval ratings well below 50% would not bode well for the Democrats this fall.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/142160/Obama-Sees-New-Lows-Job-Approval.aspx

[doc03]

1. That's still higher than most other Presidents, What was W's

approval rating somewhere in the 20's?

[thewiseguy]

2. Bush's approval ratings were very low late in his presidency

Editing post to include new information. Bush's approval numbers were worse than Obama's during his second term.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gallup_Poll-Approval_Rating-George_W_Bush.png

[Freddie Stubbs]

7. Bush's were much higher at this point in his first term

His numbers didn't really tank until his second term.

[doc03]

8. If we had another 911 attack he could declare war on Iran

and get his numbers up. Bush had high approval ratings in his first term because of 911 that's all. I saw a posting here not more than a month ago where it showed Obama's poll numbers everyone is squawking about were still higher than every other president's lows except Ike and Kennedy.

[yourneighborsdog]

13. Presidents can't declare war.

Only Congress has that power.

[doc03]

14. I know that, I will rephrase it to make you happy. He should just

attack Iran, like Bush neither him or Congress needs declare war they just do it. I think the last time war has been declared was WWII yet we have been in a war somewhere for 65 years.

[Freddie Stubbs]

15. Bush did, however, get approval from Congress before he invaded Iraq:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ243/content-detail.html

Should President Obama do that as well?

[Pirate Smile]

9. At this point for Bush it was less then a year after 9/11. They were just getting ready to rev up

the propaganda machine for attacking Iraq. His numbers were sinking before 9/11 but then jumped and stayed up for a long time.

[NYC_SKP]

3. He's Losing Republicans!!!

:rofl:

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

6. .

:spray:

[philly_bob]

4. Read somewhere Obama's still most popular US political figure.

Does anybody know whether anybody has higher approval? Especially: any Republican?

[yourneighborsdog]

10. Eisenhower was in the mid sixties.

Eisenhower was in the mid sixties.
Kennedy was at seventy percent.
About 65% for LBJ.
Nixon was at 58%.
Only 47% for Ford, but he pardoned Nixon.
Only 42% for Carter, but he was Carter.
Reagan was at 44%.
Bush Sr. was in the mid-sixties.
Clinton was at 42%.
Bush Jr. was at 68% less than a year after setting the all-time approval record of 92%.

If you're trying to read the tea leaves with respect to a second Obama term, it's probably too early to tell. Both Reagan and Clinton were in trouble at the first mid-term, lost big in both houses yet still went on to be reelected. Ford and Carter were in trouble as well, but failed to win a second term. Interesting to note both Reagan and Clinton were saved by robust economic growth and job creation. With so much hinging on a stimulus package that appears to have created few jobs and added a trillion dollars to the federal debt, and with the federal deficit skyrocketing out of control, I'll predict right now that BO will face a strong primary challenge in 2012 and turn over the keys to the White House in 2013 in all cases. You heard it here first.

[StevieM]

22. Actually, from August 13-16 1982 Gallup had Ronald Reagan at 41% job approval

He first dropped to the low 40s (42%) in July 25-28 and stayed there until December 10-13 (41%). During that entire time his approval was consistently between 41 and 43 percent. In January of 1983 he dropped to 37%.

On one hand, the Democrats already had a much bigger majority in congress at that point, so it was that much harder to go up any further (they gained 26 seats). On the hand, the Democratic opposition was not as damaged as a brand as the GOP has become IMO since the last election (birthers, etc).

Clinton was at 43% from August 8-9, 1994. He fluctuated between 41 and 44 percent from June 25-28 through October 18-19 (when it was 41%). His numbers rose shortly before the election when he ousted the Hatian military dictatorship. After the mid-term elections they dropped back down again, before they gradually recovered in 1995 and 1996.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/124922/Presidential-Approval-Center.aspx

[DNC11]

11. Is Hillary a political figure?

?

[philly_bob]

18. Yes. Does she have higher approval figures than Obama? Does any Republican? (nt)

[uponit7771]

5. The outlier CONTINUES to be rAssmusen

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

12. Indys and pugs lost in Summer 2009 over HCR and never returned

Interesting. thanks.

[besdayz]

16. a

that trend since eisenhower is more a reflection of the loss of prestige and trust of the office of the presidency...

every president enjoyed an really popularity but then become untrusted like the rest soon enough...

of course, vietnam, watergate, iran contra, lewinsky, and iraq didn't help...

only bush did not fall as quick but for obviously under rare extenuating circumstances....

[Phoonzang]

17. What happened in August 09? nt

[thewiseguy]

19. That is when they were having the health care reform town hall meetings

[Phoonzang]

20. Hmm...

Democrats seemed to like that. Indies and Repups..not so much.

[Radical Activist]

21. tea partiers attack health care. mass hysteria.