With A Few Days To Go, Bush's Approval Rating... Inches Up

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Jan. 9-11, finds 34% of Americans approving of the overall job George W. Bush is doing as president and 61% disapproving. Those ratings are a shade better than what Bush has received for most of the past year, and may represent the kind of lame-duck approval bounce Gallup has seen for other presidents.

Bush had been averaging a 29% approval rating for the last quarter of his presidency up to now -- identical to his average approval ratings for each of the previous two quarters. Individual Gallup approval readings on Bush exceeded that figure several times in the past year, including a 33% reading in September. However, the current 34% approval score is Bush's highest since January 2008, and a sharp improvement from the 25% recorded right before the November elections.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[John Fulwiler]

I know two of those that are "in that number" that have bumped the President's approval ratings-- 1) the real estate agent that sold that McMansion house in Preston Hollow in Dallas; and, 2) the guy who will be getting the contract to build that expensive metal gate to shut off his street in Preston Hollow.

[MacKenzie]

Congress needs to step it up.
http://www.pollingreport.com/CongJob.htm

[Boboday555]

AWOL Bush's ratings always crept up when he went into hiding and he's been hiding since June...it had to go up slightly!

[Lerk4]

Maybe cause we're getting more and more happy to see him go the closer we get.

[Maxbyte]

Yet Gallop has already closed out George W. Bush's eight year reign of terror with an approval rating lower than every president since Truman... except Nixon. And both Bush's get very low marks, although I personally consider George H.W. Bush to have been one of our better presidents during the period. Oddly, both Bush's get low marks for their economic policies. The senior Bush gets consistently good marks for his handling of the liberation of Kuwait. A stark contrast to his son's handling of everything Middle Eastern.

[LDnearthesea]

Of coure both Bushes did badly on the economy. They only cared for their base, the haves and have mores! Now even some of the haves and have mores have lost money, thanks to allowing, through Repugnantcan sponsered de-regulation, guys like Madoff to rip off, and guys like hedge fund managers to actually bet on people having their homes forclosed!

[OutsourcedAgain]

I mean 29 percent of the people all of the time.

[PWM]

If one looks at it, normally 30 percent like someone, 30 percent hate the person, and 40% are undecided. This poll just shows it. Bush could rape and murder a child and 30%, or so, would turn a blind eye and approve of him.

[OutsourcedAgain]

This just proves that you can fool 34 percent of the people some of the time. And 24 percent of the people all of the time.

[solarian]

bush inching up if you use planc length i think is 5.94x10-46 power very small in fact it is the shortest length ever

[CaptianTom]

Bushies approval rating is going up because he is leaving. An every one approves of his leaving!

[lesterbud]

Sort of like hemorrhoid surgery - you suffer for years, agonize over the pain, finally decide to make a decisive change, go through a painful process to remove the problem, but then you kind of forget that it was really that bad.

Once things settle down and start functioning properly again, you swear you never want to live through it again.

[LHoney]

That's because the other 33.9% have either lost their homes or had their phones disconnect­ed....

[SethBLiNK]

I have to admit that I respect W a little bit more for the way he's handled the transition. His approval rating with me has inched up from zero to one... on a scale of a thousand.

[PWM]

I agree. He has been very civilized on the transition.

[Topsailsman]

Will the pardons be announced on Monday or on Tuesday morning?

[kepary]

God bless you President Bush for keeping us safe and good luck President Obama

[Topsailsman]

Ha ha ha

[scottowego]

ditto: Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!!!!!!!

[noamjunior]

Bush didn't keep the people of new york safe when memos warnign of Al queada plane hijaking plots sat on his desk Aug 2001 while he took a month long vacation

[PWM]

He didn't keep us safe on 9/11.

[LDnearthesea]

So where was this poll taken? Utah and Idaho? I wasn't asked! And by the way, if Bush gets interviews to tell lies for the last month, I guess some of the more ignorant Amerikans amongst us who only get their news from Fox and listen to Hannity and Limbaugh all the time, then I can imagine some stupid people might "approve" of his job.