« on: September 01, 2009, 11:46:27 AM »
http://www.gallup.com/poll/122513/Presidential-Approval-Usually-Falls-Below-Timing-Varies.aspx
PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama's latest job approval rating is 51%, according to Aug. 23-25 Gallup Daily tracking. [AUTHOR'S NOTE: Obama's job approval rating has fallen to 50% since this story was originally published.] Should his rating continue its downward trend and fall below 50%, he would -- like most post-World War II presidents -- have less-than-majority approval at some point in his presidency. However, Obama, in his eighth month in office, could hit this mark in a shorter time than has typically been the case. If his rating falls below 50% before November, it would represent the third-fastest drop to below majority approval since World War II, behind the declines for Gerald Ford (in his third month as president) and Bill Clinton (in his fourth month).
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The time it has taken for presidents' approval ratings to drop below 50% has varied greatly.
Dwight Eisenhower did not fall below the majority level until his fifth year in office, and his 48% approval rating in March and April 1958 was his only sub-50% approval rating.
Both George Bushes were in office roughly three full years before their approval ratings slid below 50%. The younger Bush might have gotten there much faster if not for the post-Sept. 11 rally, as his approval rating just before the terror attacks was 51%, but it shot up to 86% days later.
Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon both served more than two years in office before their approval ratings fell below 50%.
Four presidents -- Harry Truman (11 months into his term), as well as Ford, Reagan, and Clinton -- dropped below majority approval in their first year in office.
Jimmy Carter had relatively high early approval ratings and did not drop below 50% approval until February 1978, after a year in office.
John Kennedy never had a sub-50% approval rating in his less-than-three-year term, though his ratings were on a downward trend at the time of his untimely death.
Excluding Kennedy's presidency, the average amount of time before a president lost majority approval is 23 months. The typical or median length is 13 months.
I don't put much stock in polls but the DUmmies do!
Logged
I can see November 2 from my house!!!
Spread my work ethic, not my wealth.
Forget change, bring back common sense.
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No, my friends, there’s only one really progressive idea. And that is the idea of legally limiting the power of the government. That one genuinely liberal, genuinely progressive idea — the Why in 1776, the How in 1787 — is what needs to be conserved. We need to conserve that fundamentally liberal idea. That is why we are conservatives. --Bill Whittle
