The Numbers
A Run at the Latest Data from ABC's Poobah of Polling, Gary Langer
Gary Langer is director of polling at ABC News, where he's covered the beat of public opinion for nearly 20 years - conducting and analyzing ABC News polls, evaluating data from other sources and setting the news division's standards for poll reporting. Langer has won two Emmy awards for ABC's reporting of public opinion polls in Iraq, and The Numbers blog was honored this year as winner of the 2008 Iowa Gallup Award for Excellent Journalism Using Polls.
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Bush: A Crib Sheet
January 12, 2009 8:08 AM
With the president's closing news conference an hour away, here's a quick summary of his highs and lows in public approval.
There were more of the latter; as I reported in a retrospective last week, Bush never once attained majority approval in his second term, a record in presidential approval polls dating to 1938. The full piece is here and a chart pack is here, but if you're rushing into the Brady Room, here's the crib sheet:
- Highest approval rating in presidential approval polling since 1938, 92 percent, Oct. 9, 2001.
- Highest disapproval in polls since 1938, 73 percent, Oct. 11, 2008.
- Biggest range in approval, 69 points, from high of 92 percent Oct. 9, 2001, to low of 23 percent Oct. 11, 2008.
- Longest stretch without majority approval, 48 months, January 2005 to present.
- Lowest full second-term average approval, 37 percent.
- Biggest gap between first- and second-term average approval ratings, 27 points, from 64 percent first-term average to 37 percent second-term average.
January 12, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (4)
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....no need to comment, the numbers say it all.
Posted by: martha gibson | Jan 19, 2009 10:51:52 PM
Too bad people don't remember the fear of 911. And if Obama wants to close Guantoanomo Bay then let the prisoners be let out inside the White House when everyone is asleep and see how non threatening these prisoners are
Posted by: Susan Leber | Jan 20, 2009 6:44:08 PM
I remember the fear of 911, but I also remember Katrina.
Posted by: Joy | Jan 20, 2009 6:50:49 PM
I guess you have to start from the lowest rung of the ladder to understand how the little people feel and what they expect. Former President Bush never had to experience that. He was born into wealth and never had to scratch out a living like the rest of us. You have to have been there to know what it is like. President Obama has traveled that road just like we have. He knows how hard it is and he knows what lower income people need. He knows how to connect with the people because he experienced it himself. Hardearned success and achievement has not made him forget where he started. The thing I most admire about him is his humility combined with his strength. In the news reports you either here references to the wealthy or the middle class. Very rarely are the lower income mentioned, nor what we need to survive. President Obama has shined the light on the lower income people now. That is the key that will open the future for millions of Americans in the future. For the record, I am white and live in the South.
Posted by: B_Strickland | Jan 23, 2009 9:31:02 AM
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