April 23, 2013
AS WITH RONALD REAGAN...:
George W. Bush Approval Rating Now Equals Obama's (DAN BALZ, 4/23/13, The Washington Post)
Days before his second term ended in 2009, Bush's approval rating among all adults was 33 percent positive and 66 percent negative. The new poll found 47 percent saying they approve and 50 percent saying they disapprove. Among registered voters, his approval rating today is equal to President Obama's, at 47 percent, according to the latest Post-ABC surveys.
G.W. Bush Advances in Esteem Yet Still With More Brush to Cut (Gary Langer, Apr 23, 2013, ABC)
It's not unusual for a former president to advance in public esteem after he's left the fray of partisan politics, but neither is it guaranteed. In polls four to five years after the end of their presidencies, Bush's father gained 18 points in approval, but Bill Clinton slipped by 4 and Ronald Reagan lost 12. (Reagan later improved in retrospect; it just took more time.)
his numbers will be driven up by the Peace Dividend--first, because he'll have been shown to have won the War; second, because the budget will swing back into balance so quickly that winning will be seen to have been worth it.
Posted by Orrin Judd at April 23, 2013 3:35 PM
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