Bush Job approval rating now at 44%

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

STING2

Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Joined
Oct 22, 2001
Messages
8,876
In the latest Gallup Poll taken from September 15 through September 17, George Bush's approval rating is now 44%. This marks a steady increase over the past 4 months when in May his approval rating was at 31%.

The media was flooded nearly every day back then with reports of Bush's Job approval rating in the low 30s and how the President was indeed a "lame duck" based on the poll numbers. As with all polls, things may change, but right now, what many Democrats sited as evidence of Bush's severe weakness is not really there anymore. In fact, its possible that Bush's approval rating could be at nearly 50% by the November 7 mid-term elections, although Democrats will do everything in their power in between now and then to drag his growing approval rating numbers down. Also, his numbers may have peaked and may well go down again. But currently, this is unwelcome news for Democrats that used his poll numbers as evidence of his weakness and and a sign of their chances in November.

The real political situation in the country will be determined though on November 7.

An interesting note for the poll, Bush's approval among men is now at 48%, equal to his disaproval rating among men at 48%.


Its interesting to see that when Bush was in the low 30s, there was an article every day about his low poll numbers in the media. Now that Bush is at 44%, there not any mention of poll numbers.:wink:

http://www.galluppoll.com/
 
Last edited:
He's not good in the spending department, but I give him an A+ on the tax cuts that created the best hiring environment we've seen in six years, and an incredibly low unemployment rate.

:up:
 
after a month long, full court press, filled with terror stories of Islamofascists coming to drink the blood of American children, and the 5 year anniversary of 9-11 that was fully politicized by the president in a prime time address, 44% is all he has to show for it?

a dose of reality:

[q]Post-Sept. 11 Bounce Evaporates For Bush, GOP
By Greg Sargent

If President Bush ever did get a bounce in the polls from the fifth anniversary commemoration of Sept. 11, it has completely evaporated. All the most recent polls on Bush are right here. For starters, look at the last 10 Rasmussen polls:

Sept 18: Approve 41%, Disapprove 58%
Sept 17: Approve 41%, Disapprove 57%
Sept 16: Approve 44%, Disapprove 54%
Sept 15: Approve 45%, Disapprove 53%
Sept 14: Approve 47%, Disapprove 50%
Sept 13: Approve 45%, Disapprove 52%
Sept 12: Approve 44%, Disapprove 54%
Sept 11: Approve 41%, Disapprove 57%
Sept 10: Approve 42%, Disapprove 56%
Sept 9: Approve 42%, Disapprove 56%

As you can see, according to Rasmussen, Bush's approval rating was at 42% on Sept. 9, peaked at 47% on Sept. 14, and has since dropped again to 41% a week after Sept. 11 -- lower than it was just before Sept. 11.

Meanwhile, here are a few other Bush polls:

-- On Sept. 12, a Gallup poll: Approve 39%, Disapprove 56%

-- On Sept. 14, a WSJ/NBC poll: Approval 42%, Disapprove 53%

-- Also on Sept. 14, a Fox News poll: Approve 40%, Disapprove 49%

Now check out all the most recent polls on Congress. The one poll that GOP backers like to point to is a Sept. 15 Zogby poll which found Dems were leading the GOP in the generic Congressional matchup only by three points, 37%-34%. They also point to a Fox News poll with similar results: Democrats 41%, Republicans 38%.

But those results are at odds with four other polls of the Congressional matchup released since Sept. 11 -- each of which showed a Dem edge of anywhere from eight to 14 points:

-- On Sept 15, an AP-Ipsos poll: Democrats 53%, Republicans 39%

-- On Sept. 14, a Pew poll: Democrats 52%, Republicans 40%

-- On Sept. 14, a Wall Street Journal poll: Democrats 48%, Republicans 39%

-- On Sept. 13, an ABC poll: Democrats 50%, Republicans 42%

So there you have it. And needless to say, all these numbers were certain taken during the GOP's intense and relentless "national security" blitz.
[/q]



now, with so many GOP Senators (now we have Susan Collins, Olymia Snowe, Richard Lugar, Mike DeWine, Gordon Smith, John Sununu, Lincoln Chafee, and Chuck Hagel) breaking with the White House and siding with the Democrats in their refusal not to allow Bush to torutre detainees, the GOP is showing a massive fissue on what was once their most powerful political tool.

the Christianist, pro-torture base of the GOP has been tossed plenty of red meat these past few weeks; he promise of torturing terror suspects is delicious and bloody (as we've seen in many posts here on FYM), and that running on Guantanamo Bay may make sense if you want to rile up these people. i remain hopeful that the American people will reject a party that campaigns on torture, and i hope that Bush will stop with the lies and finally say what he means: he wants the US to withdraw from the Geneva Conventions.

further, it's important to note the following, as the WSJ does:

[q]The federal government is now an astounding 185 times as big in real terms as it was a century ago. A general sense that Republicans have forgotten why they were sent to Washington is a big reason why only 43% of Republicans approve of Congress in this month's Fox News poll. If Republicans can't better explain how they plan to get a grip on spending, many voters will conclude they both deserve and need a time-out from power.[/q]

44%? probably not for long. and probably not even until the end of the week.
 
STING2 said:


Its interesting to see that when Bush was in the low 30s, there was an article every day about his low poll numbers in the media. Now that Bush is at 44%, there not any mention of poll numbers.:wink:


The media is very predictable. Here is a good link as to why:

Media Bias
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Bush Job approval rating now at 44%

AEON said:


I like numbers.

And the page you gave us is unbiased? So it is not basicly putting down the numbers that tend to 'imply' that US media is run by liberals who hate GOP's guts? Neither does it imply that any news that sheds unfavorable light on W. or his administration is just 'propaganda from the godless, commie, baby-killing liberal media machine', I suppose?
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bush Job approval rating now at 44%

all_i_want said:


And the page you gave us is unbiased? So it is not basicly putting down the numbers that tend to 'imply' that US media is run by liberals who hate GOP's guts? Neither does it imply that any news that sheds unfavorable light on W. or his administration is just 'propaganda from the godless, commie, baby-killing liberal media machine', I suppose?

I didn't say it was unbiased - or biased. All I said is that I like numbers (meaning - I like arguments backed up by real statistics instead of opinions whenever possible)
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bush Job approval rating now at 44%

AEON said:


I didn't say it was unbiased - or biased. All I said is that I like numbers (meaning - I like arguments backed up by real statistics instead of opinions whenever possible)

come on aeon, you know that its far too easy to cherry-pick the statistics you like, simply to confirm your pre-conceived hypothesis. the contradictory data is conveniently dispensed of, and what remains is only supportive of what your thesis is. this is done even in scientific circles (one only has to look at the debate on global warming), so, the 'numbers' cited on your little website there dont prove anything.
 
I didn't read the whole thread, but nobody should try and make 44% seem good just because it used to be lower

its still pretty damn bad
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bush Job approval rating now at 44%

all_i_want said:


come on aeon, you know that its far too easy to cherry-pick the statistics you like, simply to confirm your pre-conceived hypothesis. the contradictory data is conveniently dispensed of, and what remains is only supportive of what your thesis is. this is done even in scientific circles (one only has to look at the debate on global warming), so, the 'numbers' cited on your little website there dont prove anything.

You're right - the media has a conservative bias.

Seriously, do you really think it is a stretch to say the media is left leaning?
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bush Job approval rating now at 44%

AEON said:


You're right - the media has a conservative bias.

Seriously, do you really think it is a stretch to say the media is left leaning?

The media is usually much more progressive socially, which I can see how some may perceive as "left leaning"...
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bush Job approval rating now at 44%

AEON said:


You're right - the media has a conservative bias.

Seriously, do you really think it is a stretch to say the media is left leaning?

i am not saying all media has a conservative bias, because i am sure that in a country as big as the US, there are thousands of media outlets, all manned by a variety of different people. there are obviously conservative leaning outlets - i.e. Fox News. and i would consider the od-eds in NY Times to be a bit on the left. However, considering both coasts of the US are traditionally democratic-leaning, this should come out as no surprise.

I think you may have overlooked one crucial point here. The job of the media is not to drill their opinions into anyone's minds, it is to tell the news as they are. The fact that people who man media outlets have political views should not disqualify them from working in that sector.

Having said that, I admit that media is not always 'fair and balanced' as it should be, but it is a stretch to say that it is furthering the liberal agenda, as the webpage you quoted would have us believe.
 
Lincoln was VERY unpopular president. He won the election in 1860 with less than 40 % of the vote, and it weren't for some late summer Union victories in 1864 - he may not have been re-elected.

The point is this: a president should just do the best job he can, with the full measure of integrity and moral judgment, and forget the polls.
 
Irvine511 said:
after a month long, full court press, filled with terror stories of Islamofascists coming to drink the blood of American children, and the 5 year anniversary of 9-11 that was fully politicized by the president in a prime time address, 44% is all he has to show for it?

a dose of reality:


The reality is that Bush's poll numbers have been steadily increasing since early May when he was at 31%. The past month has only marginally contributed to the total increase since May. I suspect as the 2006 election campaign gets more intense, Bush's numbers will probably drop. But no one predicted that President Bush would get so close to 50% in only 4 months back in May. It is not inconceivable though that Bush numbers may continue to rise as election day draws closer. The current numbers suggest that the opposition to Bush is not nearly as strong and deep as many said back in May. But who controls the House and Senate after November 7 and by what margin will be a better indicator than any of the polls over the past year.
 
I'm Ready said:
I didn't read the whole thread, but nobody should try and make 44% seem good just because it used to be lower

its still pretty damn bad


So 44% approval is "pretty damn bad"? What would you think of numbers like 49% approval, 47% disaproval where more people approve of the job the President is doing rather than disapprove? Would that be "good" or "ok" or "bad"?
 
Re: Re: Bush Job approval rating now at 44%

deep said:


I wondered what you were saving your 8000th post for?

Actually, this was 8001, 8000 is on page 2 with no response.:wink:
 
Given that the Valerie Plame outing has been shown to not be a Rovian plot (a topic that has recieved very little attention on the forum) iI don't think this is altogether unexpected.
 
A_Wanderer said:
Given that the Valerie Plame outing has been shown to not be a Rovian plot (a topic that has recieved very little attention on the forum) iI don't think this is altogether unexpected.

The American public could give a shit about that. It's about the War and oil prices. Now that the elections are getting closer, gas prices are dropping drastically here.
 
STING2 said:



So 44% approval is "pretty damn bad"? What would you think of numbers like 49% approval, 47% disaproval where more people approve of the job the President is doing rather than disapprove? Would that be "good" or "ok" or "bad"?

I'd say bad is below 50%

ok is 50%

good is 60%

regardless of how much support you need to become a president once you win everybody would support you if its evident your doing a good job. maybe bush has improved slightly in the second half of this year, but its still not good by any means

also AEON, your point about Lincoln being very unpopular is pretty much pointless because of the civil war causing the southern half of the country to vote against him
 
I'm Ready said:



also AEON, your point about Lincoln being very unpopular is pretty much pointless because of the civil war causing the southern half of the country to vote against him

Actually, he was very unpopular in the North during his administration.
 
martha said:


The American public could give a shit about that. It's about the War and oil prices. Now that the elections are getting closer, gas prices are dropping drastically here.
Thats not what a good number of posts have said over the last year, and all for naught too.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bush Job approval rating now at 44%

AEON said:


You're right - the media has a conservative bias.

Seriously, do you really think it is a stretch to say the media is left leaning?
Right of Center:
Fox News
US & World Report
The Economist

Left of Center:
ABC
NBC
MS-NBC
Wall Street Journal

Solid Left:
BBC
CBS
NPR
CNN

Unbelievably Left:
New York Times
The Guardian
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bush Job approval rating now at 44%

Macfistowannabe said:
Right of Center:
Fox News
US & World Report
The Economist

Left of Center:
ABC
NBC
MS-NBC
Wall Street Journal

Solid Left:
BBC
CBS
NPR
CNN

Unbelievably Left:
New York Times
The Guardian

You consider WALL STREET JOURNAL as left of center? I have to say that you'd have to be 'unbelievably right' to see them as left of center. also, if you consider BBC as leftist, then I'd assume you consider any outlet that doesn't propagate the American conservative agenda in the world as leftist. BBC is one of the most balanced TV stations I have seen. It is funny how you conveniently dont have Fox News in the 'ridiculously right' column though, since most of their news are just pure, stinking trash.

You have to know one thing though, Europe is much more socially progressive than US conservatives are. So it is not surprising that you would see the guardian as 'unbelievably left'.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bush Job approval rating now at 44%

all_i_want said:


socially progressive

Could you please describe this term?
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bush Job approval rating now at 44%

AEON said:


Could you please describe this term?

Here it is, straight from Wikipedia:

'Social progressives believe that some historical mores are wrong or dogmatic and that present knowledge gained from science and philosophy has disproved many traditional beliefs. In the past, social progressives advocated abolition of slavery and the right to vote for women. Today, social progressivism in the West generally supports same-sex marriage, birth control, and women's right to choose an abortion.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_progressive
 
Back
Top Bottom