Obama beats out President Bush Approval Rating

Posted Tuesday, December 23, 2014, at 2:05 PM

A recent Gallup poll put President Obama's approval rating at 47 percent, but the report isn't all positive for the commander in chief.

By RYAN GORMAN
U.S. President Barack Obama's approval rating has hit a 2014 high, but pales in comparison to Americans' opinions of a former president during his second term.

Just under 47 percent of Americans approve of the job President Obama is doing, according to a new Gallup poll. The bump comes amid a number of positive developments during his second term in office.

Recent developments including the easing of sanctions against Cuba, an improving economy and even his tough stance on Ferguson may have led to the rise in sentiment.

Obama may also have benefitted from the "Colbert Bump," a phenomenon where politicians appearing on the since-discontinued "Colbert Report" saw their numbers rise shortly after visiting the show.
Obama's poll numbers are high, but not his highest.

He rode into office in 2009 with a 67 percent approval rating, but a slowing economy, his handling of Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, his handling of ISIS terrorists and other factors have led to a precipitous drop in positive sentiment.
The president's approval rating had dipped as low as 40 percent earlier as recently as six-weeks ago.
Compared against other two-term presidents, Obama fares well only against George W. Bush.
The second Bush to hold the Oval Office was drowning in an underwhelming approval rating of only 37 percent at this point in his second term, December 2006.

Obama compares favorably to Ronald Reagan, who sat tight with a 48 percent approval rating in December 1986.
Dwight Eisenhower's 58 percent approval rating in December 1958 would be an all-time high if not for Bill Clinton.
Clinton, despite being in the middle of an impeachment proceeding for lying about an extra-marital affair with intern Monica Lewinsky, held an overwhelming 67 percent approval rating.
The country was in the middle of a dotcom boom, stocks were soaring and incomes were robust.
Clinton remains the only president other than Andrew Johnson to be impeached. Johnson also retained his place in the Oval Office.

Obama has just over two years left in his second term.

http://www.aol.com/article/2014/12/23/president-obamas-approval-rating-hits-2014...

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That's good news to hear. BTW, I saw the Colbert report that he was on. It was very entertaining. A link to it is below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95KTrtzOY-g

-- Posted by Sam_1776 on Tue, Dec 23, 2014, at 4:54 PM
Mike, you may be mistaking the 2014 elections in November with the recent Gallup poll.

http://www.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/180266/obama-approval-settles-narr...

-- Posted by Sam_1776 on Tue, Dec 23, 2014, at 11:03 PM
Mike, why do you just mention the "polls" taken in 2010 and 2014 (meaning national elections). Wouldn't there also be national elections in 2008 and 2012, and I believe that Obama won those? That makes me think that your information is not fair and balanced.

With the good and bad news of the last several weeks (economy on the upswing, opening diplomatic relations with Cuba, and the torture report), I'm wondering if the election were held today if the results would be different?

That of course would be hard to say, however don't get too complacent, and hang on to your dreams of overthrowing the government. We do have an important election in 2016 to see what people think, now that the boogeyman of "ObamaCare" turned out to be just a right wing scare tactic.

-- Posted by Soc7 on Wed, Dec 24, 2014, at 9:10 AM
Mike, in regards to the elections that you so love to refer to, has the thought even occurred to you that just maybe the few that voted have said now you have the majority, PROVE you know how to govern? Neither party has shown it's ability or willingness to govern for so long a MAJORITY of the people eligible to vote have given up! The hate and vitriol, the negative ads, the selling out of America to corporate interest,you name it, has proven that neither the far left or the far right has any desire to GOVERN, all they want to do is impose their will on the body whole to satisfy the desires of the few.

-- Posted by the old progressive on Wed, Dec 24, 2014, at 9:14 AM
MIKE......DOESNT YOUR HATE EXHAUST YOU????? It comes out so raw in every post.Do you really think AMERICA WILL BE BETTER UNDER A HARD RIGHT GOVERNMENT??? WHY??? AND FOR WHO???.........GIVE IT A REST....we shall see if THEY can govern to the satisfaction of the masses by the next presidential election. The deep south hasn't been democratic in years,you need to update your bias.White southern men don't vote for blacks remember ?????? Or has something changed??? I know this, the organization will be better and voter suppression will not work.DONT TELL ME ABOUT ILLEGALS OR SO CALLED AMNESTY BECAUSE IT IS NOT TRUE.They cant vote. that is not part of the ex order.VOTER FRAUD is and exscuse to try and suppress the minority vote we know that and it wont work.

Every goal the right said he would NOT attain the man has, SO THAT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF THE NUMBERS DONT LIE,EVEN THE REPUBS HAD TO ADMIT THAT !!!! AND THE XMASS RETAILERS...CONFIRMED..........HA !!!!!

MERRY XMASS !!!!!!!!!!!!

-- Posted by lamont on Wed, Dec 24, 2014, at 2:31 PM
MERRY XMASS? What is that?

-- Posted by joe_smoe on Wed, Dec 24, 2014, at 3:34 PM
Mike, check the facts. The progressives did sit out this election since for the most part the same old party hacks didn't deserve our votes! Now we wait and see what the next 2 years brings.

-- Posted by the old progressive on Wed, Dec 24, 2014, at 7:02 PM
My point exactly Mike. MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!

-- Posted by joe_smoe on Thu, Dec 25, 2014, at 9:40 AM
If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen.

This is widely reported as being coined by US President Harry S. Truman. That's almost correct, but in fact Truman was known to have used it at least as early as 1942 - before becoming president. Here's a citation from an Idaho newspaper The Soda Springs Sun, from July that year:

"Favorite rejoinder of Senator Harry S. Truman, when a member of his war contracts investigating committee objects to his strenuous pace: 'If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen'."

-- Posted by WinterStorm on Thu, Dec 25, 2014, at 12:23 PM
Merry Christmas Winter Storm :)

-- Posted by the old progressive on Thu, Dec 25, 2014, at 1:45 PM
Not all libs are democrats, not all conservatives are republicans. I would explain the last election to you, but I'm not sure you would want to hear.

-- Posted by the old progressive on Fri, Dec 26, 2014, at 5:11 PM
the old progressive, you might think this silly of me, however I believe the last election was actually a win for the demos.

You see now the Republicans won't have Obama to blame, they will have to get off their butts and do some work!!

They're going to need to pass some legislation that the people want not what the greedy corporations want, especially the Koch Bros.

I also noticed if I abbreviate your name it spells out TOP............. lol! your on top of this subject !!

-- Posted by MsMarylin on Fri, Dec 26, 2014, at 8:38 PM
Ms.M, not necessarily a win for the dems, more like a win for those in the middle and progressives like me. Will the repubs. prove they can govern? I doubt it. Governing means doing what is good for all Americans, and neither side has shown any willingness to do such. Obama's numbers probably would have been much better if he had kept his promises to the progressive wing instead of giving in to corporate interest which resulted in the mess called the ACA. What would things look like today if he had followed the lead of FDR and instituted a massive public works and infrastructure program that would have benefited ALL Americans? There's much more that I could say, but that would really deviate from the topic of your blog. Take care and hope that the dem's will nominate someone other than Hillary, since that would be just more of what we are seeing today.

-- Posted by the old progressive on Sat, Dec 27, 2014, at 8:04 AM
Hillary Clinton is a little more to the right of Obama. I'm not sure that she would show the same restraint that Obama has on foreign policy.

I'm a moderate liberal, and I like the ACA, although like a lot of things it could use some tweaking. A massive public works project did work out well during the Great Depression, and we do need to get a lot of our bridges fixed. It does generate a false economy though because it is better for businesses to do better. Also, the Tea Party Republicans would have had a fit over the government spending and we do have too much debt now to afford a large public works project.

-- Posted by Sam_1776 on Sat, Dec 27, 2014, at 11:49 AM
Sam, I'll address your post 1 item at a time.

Hillary a little more right of Obama, I see her as more of a neocon.

The ACA. That bill was a total sell out to wall street, big pharma,the insurance industry and the trial lawyers. A public option or single payer with the powers of the VA as far as the cost of meds and real tort reform would have been far better and saved the taxpayers $$$$.

Before the 2010 midterms Obama had the majorities needed to pass a stimulus plan that would have benefited everyone all the way around. Of course this is predicated on the assumption that there would be profit limits on the private sector contractors, as well as oversight on the state governments that elected to perform some of the work themselves. That and requiring something close to prevailing wage requirements of all federally funded work would have injected tons of money into the economy, increased demand, and be of benefit to all. It's called go big or don't go at all. Just my humble opinion. :)

-- Posted by the old progressive on Sat, Dec 27, 2014, at 1:04 PM
Other then Hilary the demos have Elizabeth Warren although I believe she could be a tad to liberal.

On the other side there could be Chis Christie to run against or maybe Herman Cain or Mitt Romney will try it again. One more..... Jed Bush ?

-- Posted by MsMarylin on Sat, Dec 27, 2014, at 1:17 PM
Ms.M, Elizabeth Warren is only too liberal for wall street. Her and Bernie Sanders. Both of their messages would attract many of the left of center independents as well as those in the liberal wing of her party. Many will remember her for speaking out against the weakening of Dodd-Franks. I think America as a whole is sick and tired of bailing out the big banks that should have been broken up long ago. Of all the repubs. you mention, just more of the same old same old.

Just my opinion. :)

-- Posted by the old progressive on Sat, Dec 27, 2014, at 3:11 PM
Ms Marylin, I don't like any of those Republican candidates.

1. Chris Christie is someone that I used to think would be good, but he has done and said some things that makes me think that he has too big of a mouth.

2. Herman Cain is someone that I don't think is very qualified and he did have a law suit against him for sexual misconduct which he paid the complainants off. Yes, I know that Bill Clinton also had questions which turned out to be true of his sexual misconduct, but it did not appear to be about forcing a woman to do something.

3. Mitt Romney - gag

4. Jeb Bush is acting like a prince. He is now supposedly seriously looking into running which means that he doesn't need to do anything and just wait and see if Republicans love him enough. He wants to get the nomination without running in the primaries. A good thing in his favor is that his wife is Latino and he speaks fluent Spanish. A bad thing was that he was governor in Florida when the vote counting machines miscounted the votes, because the election ballot wasn't clear, and he could have done something fair, but instead went with his brother winning that state against Al Gore which determined the winner of that election.

On the Democratic side I like Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren but I wish they were better. Clinton has worked very hard for years to be elected, and it seems to me that Elizabeth Warren has taken the easy road.

T.O.P., I mostly disagree that Clinton is a neocon, although I did have to look up the word. She has been a liberal since college, although for foreign policy she does seem to be conservative on that.

-- Posted by Sam_1776 on Sat, Dec 27, 2014, at 8:37 PM
Sam, the biggest problem I have with Hillary is that she seems joined at the hip with wall street. She talks the talk, but doesn't seem to walk the walk.

Sam, you seem like a very interesting individual. Respectful and well spoken. A rarity it seems when having a discussion on politics.

-- Posted by the old progressive on Sun, Dec 28, 2014, at 7:03 AM
I'm afraid that Wall Street does seem to own much of our national politicians. Campaign contributions are being used as bribes to get votes.

Thanks for the compliment T.O.P. It is nice to have a respectful discussion. I have to admit that when some commenters post on here, I do sometimes lose patience and am not as respectful as I want to be.

-- Posted by Sam_1776 on Sun, Dec 28, 2014, at 9:08 AM
Sam

I don't care for those Republicans I mentioned, I put Herman Cain in the mix because Mike thinks he should of been President. lol!

Which Republican will give Hilary or another Democrat a run for their money? When I say money remember they have the koch Brothers backing them.

Politics has turned into all about the money!!

It is nice to be able to talk and give OUR opinions without the Bully's here! Also so nice to not have to scroll through all the rants and rhetoric!

-- Posted by MsMarylin on Sun, Dec 28, 2014, at 11:40 AM
On a slightly different note Ms.M, could you imagine the conversation the 4 of us, you,me,lamont and Sam could have on race in America, then and now?

-- Posted by the old progressive on Sun, Dec 28, 2014, at 2:22 PM
Here are the top Republican candidates according to a recent poll. I don't like any of them. The link to the full poll is below. The poll also showed how the top Republican candidates would do against Clinton. Bush would do the best although as of this month he would still lose. Christie would do second best, just being behind Bush by a couple of percentage points.

I wish that another Republican, that is moderate, would step up and give Clinton some competition.

I agree with you both. It is nice to actually discuss something, without the verbal assaults.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2014/images/12/24/poll2.pdf

The first percentage column is December 2014 and the second percentage column is November 2014.

Bush 23% 14%

Christie 13% 9%

Carson 7% 11%

Huckabee 6% 10%

Paul 6% 8%

Rubio 5% 3%

Ryan 5% 9%

Cruz 4% 7%

Jindal 4% 1%

Perry 4% 5%

Walker 4% 5%

Kasich 3% 3%

Santorum 2% 2%

-- Posted by Sam_1776 on Sun, Dec 28, 2014, at 3:32 PM
Well Sam, I can't think of a single Republican of any significance that would dare allow himself to be labeled a moderate for fear of the tea party. Unless or until the tea party can be marginalized enough to remove them as a force, the list above pretty much represents what the Republicans will continue to present to the electorate as a choice.

Any thoughts?

-- Posted by the old progressive on Sun, Dec 28, 2014, at 5:27 PM
As long as the Republican candidates think that they need to sound like a Tea Party candidate they are not going to win a national election, IMO.

I noticed in the 2014 elections, the Tea Party candidate did frequently lose to the moderate Republican who said that he or she would work with the Democrats. I'm hoping that one of these people will start standing out or at least moving the Republican party in a better direction.

Ted Cruz, and his antics, has made Republicans that don't want to block all progress, mad. I'm hoping for a change as a result of these things, and I did notice that Boehner, who I don't respect, has at least started to stand up to the Tea Partiers.

-- Posted by Sam_1776 on Sun, Dec 28, 2014, at 7:25 PM
Sam, how would you define govern vs rule when it comes to the congress as a whole?

My definition governing means passing laws that are written in such a way that passage requires votes from the opposition party. To rule means to only pass legislation that doesn't need votes from the opposition to pass.

Look at immigration reform, the Senate bill would have passed the House if Boehner had brought it to the floor whether or not he had enough votes in his own party to pass it, which he didn't. It seems like relying on bipartisan votes is prohibited. That is ruling, not governing. Trust me, I'm not taking aim at just the Republicans, Harry Reid and company are just as bad.

Just my opinion. :)

-- Posted by the old progressive on Mon, Dec 29, 2014, at 7:31 AM
Huckabee? Do you really think he would run?

Carson I haven't heard of him? Don't look like the Republicans have anyone that can beat a Democrat.

I think the Republicans would have a better chance if they would go back to how their party used to be and not have taken on the hard core conservative movement.

-- Posted by MsMarylin on Mon, Dec 29, 2014, at 11:47 AM
My definition would be pretty much the same as yours, T.O.P.

I agree with you Marylin on what the Republicans should do. I don't think Huckabee has a chance of running but he was on the list of Republicans in the poll.

Ben Carson is a retired pediatric surgeon who made a name for himself by separating conjoined twins. He now makes a name for himself as the Republican parties token black person who criticizes everything about Obama, and doesn't believe in Evolution. "The Atlantic" had a good article about him almost two years ago after he got up in a prayer breakfast, attended by Obama, and lectured him about his opinion of the ACA.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/02/meet-dr-ben-carson-the-new-c...

-- Posted by Sam_1776 on Mon, Dec 29, 2014, at 10:04 PM
Your side don't have anyone to conger up! lol!

They are in desperate need to find a volunteer...........

-- Posted by MsMarylin on Fri, Feb 13, 2015, at 10:30 AM

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