a record-breaking transition

and too long in coming ...

bush's final approval rating: 22 percent president bush will leave office as one of the most unpopular departing presidents in history, according to a new cbs news/new york times poll showing mr. bush's final approval rating at 22 percent. seventy-three percent say they disapprove of the way mr. bush has handled his job as president over the last eight years. mr. bush's final approval rating is the lowest final rating for an outgoing president since gallup began asking about presidential approval more than 70 years ago. the rating is far below the final ratings of recent two-term presidents bill clinton and ronald reagan, who both ended their terms with a 68 percent approval rating, according to cbs news polling. recent one term presidents also had higher ratings than mr. bush. his father george h.w. bush had an end-of-term rating of 54 percent, while jimmy carter's rating was 44 percent. harry truman had previously had the lowest end-of-term approval at 32 percent, as measured by gallup.

nation's hopes high for obama, poll shows obama will take office tuesday as the most popular incoming president in a generation. he also will enter the white house with a broad mandate to act that was missing when george w. bush was elected by the narrowest of margins in 2000. more than half of all americans have high hopes for his presidency, almost three-quarters of the public say obama's proposals will improve the struggling economy, and about eight in 10 have a favorable view of him — more than twice the percentage now holding positive views of bush. about seven in 10 say obama understands their problems, and a similar proportion say his victory gives him "a mandate to work for major new social and economic programs."

poll finds faith in obama, mixed with patience president-elect barack obama is riding a powerful wave of optimism into the white house, with americans confident he can turn the economy around but prepared to give him years to deal with the crush of problems he faces starting tuesday, according to the latest new york times/cbs news poll. ... as the nation prepares for a transfer of power and the inauguration of its 44th president, mr. obama’s stature with the american public stands in sharp contrast to that of president bush. mr. bush is leaving office with just 22 percent of americans offering a favorable view of how he handled the eight years of his presidency, a record low, and firmly identified with the economic crisis mr. obama is inheriting. more than 80 percent of respondents said the nation was in worse shape today than it was five years ago. by contrast, 79 percent were optimistic about the next four years under mr. obama, a level of good will for a new chief executive that exceeds that measured for any of the past five incoming presidents. and it cuts across party lines: 58 percent of the respondents who said they voted for mr. obama’s opponent in the general election, senator john mccain of arizona, said they were optimistic about the country in an obama administration. ... his favorable rating, at 60 percent, is the highest it has been since the times/cbs news poll began asking about him. overwhelming majorities say they think that mr. obama will be a good president, that he will bring real change to washington, and that he will make the right decisions on the economy, iraq, dealing with the war in the middle east and protecting the country from terrorist attacks. over 70 percent said they approved of his cabinet selections.

um, who's irrelevant ... ?

in a biting rebuke, the white house on sunday dismissed former president jimmy carter as "increasingly irrelevant" after his harsh criticism of president bush. carter was quoted saturday as saying "i think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history." the georgia democrat said bush had overseen an "overt reversal of america's basic values" as expressed by previous administrations, including that of his own farther [sic], former president george h.w. bush. "i think it's sad that president carter's reckless personal criticism is out there," white house spokesman tony fratto responded sunday from crawford, where bush spent the weekend. "i think it's unfortunate," fratto said. "and i think he is proving to be increasingly irrelevant with these kinds of comments."

jimmy carter, that boorish failure, who can point to little more than a nobel peace prize to his credit, is obviously jealous of the commander-guy.

because yes, even 18 months before george w. bush's triumphal exit from the world stage, his stalwart colleagues have already seated him among the fabled champions of conservative republicanism and are weaving epic paeans to his matchless accompishments and his everlasting fame:

(video courtesy of real time with bill maher)

or ... maybe not.

personal bests

jimmy carter:

i think the best time was probably dealing with the middle east issue at camp david ... and even better i think was the peace treaty that came along six months later. i made a very difficult decision over the almost unanimous opposition of my cabinet and my staff to take the initiative and to go to egypt and to go to israel to try to get begin and sadat to agree on a peace treaty. and when they did sign — both of them signed the agreement — i guess that was probably my best moment.

bill clinton:

[kosovo] might be perhaps the most satisfying thing because it might prove that people can lay down their hatreds of people who are different. you know, i basically think free people will figure out a way to make the most of their lives and work out their problems if they can get the rules of engagement right. ... and i think what we did in kosovo was profoundly important.

george w. bush:

the best moment was — you know, i've had a lot of great moments. i don't know, it's hard to characterize the great moments. they've all been busy moments, by the way. i would say the best moment was when i caught a seven-and-a-half pound large mouth bass on my lake. [laughter]