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.

welcome to nixon country

when richard nixon resigned in 1974 his approval rating was down to 23% ...

bush's approval at new low in reuters: 24 percent by mark silva president bush's approval rating has reached a new low in the newest reuters/zogby poll — with just 24 percent of those surveyed approving of bush's job performance. that is down from 29 percent last month. it is lower than the latest register of bush's approval rating in the gallup poll — 32 percent in gallup's newest october survey. the newest gauge arrives as president bush prepares for a press conference in the west wing this morning — at 10:40 am edt — and as the president prepares to fend off an override of his veto of an expansion of children's health care on capitol hilll tomorrow. public approval for the job that congress is performing — 11 percent in the new survey — matches the all-time low that reuters found last month. "deepening unhappiness with president george w. bush and the u.s. congress soured the mood of americans and sent bush's approval rating to another record low this month," reuters reports today. "the reuters/zogby index," which measures the mood of the country, also fell from 98.8 to 96 — the second consecutive month in which it has dropped. the number of americans who believe the country is on the wrong track jumped four points to 66 percent. "there is a real question among americans now about how relevant this government is to them," pollster john zogby said. "they tell us they want action on health care, education, the war and immigration, but they don't believe they are going to get it."

(video courtesy of rich garella)

i have a feeling that the former holder of the title of "the worst president in the nation's history" is sleeping less fitfully these days.

---

let's hope george doesn't forget to wave to harry on his way down; truman's approval rating had sunk to just 22% at the end of 1952 (though it did bounce back to 32% by the time he left office a year later).