The Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center has an interactive dashboard that lets you compare the the approval ratings of post-WWII presidents at any comparable point in their presidencies. I’ve been tracking Obama’s approval against other presidents that were seriously “troubled” at this stage: Reagan, Carter, and Clinton. As those who were around at that time, things looked bad for all three of them at this stage (613 days in) and all considered their re-election to be in jeopardy unless things greatly approved. In the case of Carter, they didn’t.
At this point, Obama is just squeaking past Reagan (44% to 42%) and is tied with Clinton. With Carter, the “streams have crossed” and Obama is behind by 4%. It seems obvious that as far as poll numbers go, the Obama camp hopes for change.
The Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center
The “Crossed Streams.”
1 response so far ↓
1 Steve Roth // Sep 28, 2010 at 6:35 am
If only Bernanke could turn on the tap the way Volcker did. But the tap’s been wide open for thirty years.
Leave a Comment