GEORGE BUSH POLLING NUMBERS FALL TO RECORD LOWS

May 1 2009

Washington, D.C. – When George W. Bush left office he ended his time as President with some of the lowest polling numbers in history. The consequences of two wars, a failing economy, questions of corruption, and a general lame duck status, the presidency that came in like a lion no doubt went out like a very injured lamb. Now, a little over three months since leaving office, Bush’s polling numbers have fallen to record lows placing him the unenviable position of being the most unpopular president ever.

Previous to the most recent data, Bush was ranked last amongst Presidents in the modern era but stayed well ahead of number of past Presidents including Andrew Johnson and Warren G. Harding. Since his departure though, Bush’s numbers have plummeted lower than any president and is rapidly approaching a level that may never been beaten.

“Polling has never been an exact science. With so many agencies using so many different metrics and conducting their questioning in various demographics polls often show great variances. What we are starting to see now is consolidation of those numbers and a general agreement on where Bush sits,” said Scrape TV Political analyst Gabriel Kinsey. “Part of this could be a result of Bush no longer being in office. We can never really know, which is part of the fundamental problem with polling, but there is a great likelihood that the low numbers are an accurate representation of people’s feelings towards Bush.”

Much has been made of the efforts by the Obama administration’s concerted efforts to shuffle off the burdens of the Bush era. Much of those efforts have to do with the ongoing war on terror and the closing of Guantanamo Bay.

“Generally speaking when a President leaves office they leave on a more or less good note. There have been a few notable exceptions such as Nixon or Kennedy, but for the most part they do leave with the respect due a president but that just hasn’t been the case with Bush. Whether that is a result of the current administration and their efforts to distance themselves from him, the continuing headaches, the
decline of the Republican Party in general we may never know,” continued Kinsey. “The history of Presidential polling has always ended with the departure from the Oval office but in the case of Bush the numbers have just gone steadily downwards. It may be that we end up seeing him at zero, which in a way would be sensible considering he is no longer President.”

Polling for recent past Presidents has always ended once their terms ended though occasional opinions on their post-office life do tend to make the rounds, none are seen as official. Though questions continue to be asked as to why Bush’s numbers keep dropping, the answer may rest not in the actions of either administration, but the efforts of polling outfits trying to stay afloat in a difficult economy.

“Polling obviously hits a high around election time and then tapers off but the problem this time around is that the peak of the polling industry exactly coincided with economic collapse. If there had been a buffer the industry might have been able to more fully prepare but as it is, they sort of spent their wad and are now scrambling to keep things together,” continued Kinsey. “All that simply means is they need to take a more aggressive approach to polling even if that means researching opinions about people for whom it’s no longer important. It will be interesting to see what the numbers on other past presidents will be, especially the dead ones. It will be irrelevant of course, but interesting.”

Second to last on the extended polling list is William Henry Harrison, who was in office for a month.

Edward Bastil, Political Correspondent

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