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Obama has finally fallen lower in the polls than George W. Bush was at this stage of his presidency.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/obama_bush_job_approval_ratings.html
This is incredible when you consider the circumstances in which these 2 presidents came into office.
1. Bush was sworn in after one of the most controversial election outcomes ever. Remember the recounting, and the protests?
+ Show Spoiler +
2. Obama was sworn in after one of the largest national celebrations of an election result ever. A lot of people who didn't vote for him were even excited by the implications of his victory.
Election night: + Show Spoiler +
You guys remember that monster party and the smaller ones that were happening in streets all around the nation.
3. Bush did NOT win the popular vote while Obama did. This plays a big role because people tend to be more likely to approve of someone they voted for. Its like they then have a vested interest.
Obama won the popular vote 53% to 46%
Bush lost the popular vote 47.9% to Gore's 48.4%
4. The difference in their approval ratings isn't even small. Obama's spread of approve-disapprove is 9.8 percentage points, while Bush's was 23.0. These are according to poll averages monitored by realclearpolitics.com
So this is really amazing. And it begs the question of how does one of the most popular Presidents going into his early first term, fall so fast from grace?
The purpose of this thread is to discuss the current political situation in the United States and future implications.
For example, does this raise the chances of a Republican takeover of congress like happened after Clinton failed to pass healthcare reform? etc. etc.
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Well, Obama is trying to make some pretty huge changes happen, which are dividing the country intensely. I assume that is the cause of this drop. I don't think Bush was really doing much at all until after September 11th, which was the catalyst for just about everything people hated about his presidency.
I'm not sure how relevant comparing these two stats is.
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On August 26 2009 18:12 gLyo wrote:
Well, Obama is trying to make some pretty huge changes happen, which are dividing the country intensely. I assume that is the cause of this drop. I don't think Bush was really doing much at all until after September 11th, which was the catalyst for just about everything people hated about his presidency.
I'm not sure how relevant comparing these two stats is.
thats pretty much it in my view
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sure obama isn't a "perfect" president but you have to admit he is a hard worker. There are so many problem obama has to deal with that it doesn't surprise me to see that bush was more popular. I feel as though americans need to give the guy a break and stop sweating him for everything that goes bad.
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If you watch the TV coverage on Obama on this country, its no wonder people dislike him.
My theory, generally, is if you want to explain anything in America, look at TV first. It's 90% of the info for 90% of the people.
The threshold for what people will call "socialism" and "communism" in this country is pretty commical. Obama is certainly not challenging the concentrations of private power/wealth in this country. And he doesnt intend to. Ironically, I dislike him because he's touted as some sort of president of the people but hes not better than Clinton or Bush for may reasons.
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Can we Nuke the US already ??
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Obama is dealing with a horrible economy and Bush had september 11th...saved him.
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He is running a nazi socialist communist facist death panel to kill all Americans. How is this surprising at all?
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SWPIGWANG has been staying informed with Fox News. Good job soldier.
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This was predicted before he was even elected. Several factors are at work here. Firstly, the campaign was so effective at setting a high precedent of enthusiasm that the actual executive performance, even if more than competent, would likely seem underwhelming. Secondly, most people have both short memories and very little understanding of macroeconomics. It was likely that Obama would eventually have to soak up some blame for the state of the economy during his presidency. This generally only occurs on a subconscious level, but I've heard a few right wing nutjobs who are ALREADY explicitly blaming Obama for the current economic climate. Third, once vague generalizations become specific policy there's bound to be many more divisions created. When we're left guessing, we often either assume the best or the worst. It works for horror films as it does politics.
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eh, approval rating polls just exist as ammunition for whatever side they benefit the most, 50% seems fine to me considering how partisan the US is
and, to be fair, he walked into a bit of a shit storm, and, for some reason, providing healthcare coverage has bitterly split the nation
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He's a smooth talker. People are realizing there isn't anything behind those words. =)
I like this.
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Canada2492 Posts
It's because of the propaganda against Obama and the fact that plenty of people think that their TV is an authority figure.
Anyone remember the "first 100 days" FOX compilation?
To imagine that this is the most popular news site is just...scary...
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plus, i think presidential job approval polls are always a bit deceptive in their construction--are the people answering thinking 'how do i feel obama is doing as a president' or are they answering 'how are the democrats doing at running the country?' i could see the latter being closer to a 50/50 split, but i guess you have to sleep in the bed you made
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considering how fucking stupid the average american is, i would be more worried if the majority of the public DID agree with what their president obama is doing.
it's like fucking noobs watching me play sc and telling me to build a forge then five cannons before getting my gateway up tvp because "cannons kill marines".
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I hopped on the "yay obama" bandwagon during the American elections, but tbh now i think he needs to force through the health care reform that's become such an issue there, this kind of weakness will only hurt his presidency in the long run.
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Americans are so stupid, they want a quick fix for everything, not realizing that politics takes time and has to be done carefully. Making a government-run option for health care isn't just announcing it, all the provisions have to be laid out, especially since it will probably last for decades.
Also, the lies spread by the commentators like Glenn Beck from Fox News and the idiots at the town hall meetings spewing nonsense about death panels and Nazis are just ridiculous.
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Baltimore, USA22259 Posts
This is an awful thread... the concept is comparing apples to oranges, two completely different scenarios that you honestly can't objectively compare.
I would think a report like this is meant to be nothing more than polarizing, and from the results so far in this thread, it's working. I'm also skeptical of a site with a name like "realclearpolitics.com" 
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EPT![[image loading]](http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/5376/bushobama.png)
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![[image loading]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200811/r310306_1364127.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/photo/2008-11/43200271.jpg)
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