Bush leaving office more unpopular than Nixon

By Paul Steinhauser
CNN Deputy Political Director

WASHINGTON DC (CNN) -- On the day that President-elect Barack Obama is visiting the White House, a new national poll suggests that the current occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the most unpopular president since approval ratings were first sought more than six decades ago.

Seventy-six percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday disapprove of how President Bush is handling his job.

That's an all-time high in CNN polling and in Gallup polling dating back to World War II.

"No other president's disapproval rating has gone higher than 70 percent. Bush has managed to do that three times so far this year," says CNN polling director Keating Holland. "That means that Bush is now more unpopular than Richard Nixon was when he resigned from office during Watergate with a 66 percent disapproval rating."

Before Bush, the record holder for presidential disapproval was Harry Truman, with a 67 percent disapproval rating in January of 1952, his last full year in office.

As Obama visits the White House to start the transition from the Bush administration to an Obama administration, 57 percent of those questioned think the transfer of power will be relatively easy and free from tension, with 39 percent saying the transition will be difficult.

"A majority say that the transition from Bush to Obama will go smoothly, although nearly one in four predict a lot of tension between Bush aides and Obama aides in the next few weeks. That sentiment is highest among Democrats, but even among them, a majority believes that the transition will be relatively easy," Holland said. VideoWatch Obama's ambitious agenda »

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted Thursday through Sunday with 1,246 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

I'll tell ya, though; if I'm Dubya, I can't get out of there fast enough.

I get the feeling he'll leave without ruffling Obama's feathers. I expect him to be gracious, if not classy about it.

No doubt. At the same time I expect Obama will end the anti-Bush rhetoric. The election's over, and while Bush deserved the low approval rating, nobody is looking for finger pointing now.

Such finger-pointing helps nobody, and if Dubya loves his country as I'm sure he thinks he does, he gave and will continue to give whatever advice to the President-Elect regarding national security or terrorism that he can give.

You know me, I've shat on Dubya frequently, but we must admit that his administration for better or for worse was the first Executive to fight international terrorism as a serious domestic/foreign threat since the days of Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates, much like Harry Truman (successes and failures) did with the Cold War.

Hopefully Obama's administration will see what worked, and what didn't, with the Bush years...and hopefully improve upon it for our sake.

Wow, that's BAD.

Then again, off topic, but I still stand to my opinion that Nixon in his first 4 years was a much better President than Dubya has been in his 8 years.

I'd like to know who in the hell the 24 percent are that think he's doing a good job. Wait, the Bushs's are a large family right? There ya go


Counting the days!!



TIS

Maybe that includes Anne Coulter.

By the way, where's Coulter been this election season? Someone mentioned that she's been recovering from the operation she had to significantly reduce the size of her gigantic adam's apple down to a more feminine size.

Haha.

Thing is, I remembered her saying how if it came down to Hillary/McCain, she would endorse Hillary because McCain was a weakling on gun rights.

Today I read a little scary article in a German newspaper. The German correspondent wrote about how difficult it was for her to contact anybody from the campaign. Volunteers were not entitled to say anything. They told her to contact the headquarter which she did several times. However, they never answered. When she attended a rally in South Carolina she and other people from the press couldn't go to the press gallery because it was reserved for TV crews (who didn't come). In the election night she was allowed to interview the crowd after the speech in Chicago, but no longer than 20 minutes, she had a guard at her side all the time. Felt like in China.
For those of you who know some German: http://www.taz.de/1/debatte/kolumnen/artikel/1/vorsicht-sympathischer-strahlemann/

Can't wait then for all of us to be shipped to farming communes.

This guy I guess TIS:

"The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace"

http://sec.online.wsj.com/article/SB122584386627599251.html

I totally agree with this editorial. The way Bush has been vilified is a joke. And for the record, I'm part of that 24%.

Bush is an easy target because he is a bad public speaker. He has faced more in his presidency than most and I think as time goes on more people will realize that.

Fuck George Bush.

Oh, and for the record, that 24% too.

Anyone that admits to being in the 24% should have their voting rights taken away.

Even if they voted for Obama?

If you like Bush, and voted for Obama, then they should be doing scientific experiments on your brain.

Oh you're just mad because I've beaten you two years in a row in fantasy football...

Stay classy Miami

Keep reaching. I'm still ahead of you this year, and was in the semifinals last year. I don't remember your team even making the playoffs last year.

We have the same lousy record and you've scored a whopping 52 more points than me. How's Larry Johnson working out for you? Reggie Bush is back this week too...

You know there still isn't a winner in the Al Franken race? And Stevens ,aka the 80something felon, from Alaska, last I heard, is winning.




TIS

In Alaska, 90k votes are still uncounted.

All the shitty players I have, and I'm still 52 points ahead of you.

I am not one of the 24%, and while the editorial makes a good point that some over the top vilification does us no good, it is intellectually dishonest for even the Wall Street Journal to claim this man has tried to be bipartisan. He has broken the Geneva accords, sanctioned torture and other war crimes, bypassed the US Constitution and is responsible for all the acts of Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby as well as the swiftboating of Kerry, and the appointment of justices to the upreme court who are way out of the mainstream. He has been a disgrace.

Enjoy it while it lasts

While W may have been handed some very tough reins to handle, he also didn't rise to the occasion. Just think of the legacy he leaves behind - a ruined economy, a destroyed housing market, a war built on false intelligence, inability to provide even basic care for the injured returning from that war (remember the mold, the rodents, the faulty plumbing?), the inability to take care of a city ruined by storm, record high energy prices, and an enormous deficit to replace the surplus he inherited from the prior administration.

Yes, he had an awful lot placed on his shoulders, but he didn't handle any of it very well, did he??

I agree, Babe. And for the record, I really don't view Dubya as a "bad" guy. I know I might be in the minority, but I really don't.

He's certainly a "true believer" in both God and country, and he appears to have some very likeable qualities. But as a President, in my opinion, he was a disaster.

Nor do I view Omaba as any kind of "savior." I was on board with his candidacy early on, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'll vote for him in four years if he doesn't get the job done.

Would you believe that the Alaska race between Stevens (R and Begich (D) is still being counted? Now, Begich is up by only 3 votes.
The Minnesota race is still being recounted too with Al Franken behin by approximately 200 votes. Why so many close elections this year?

TIS