Re: Obama's Cratering Approval Ratings

In response to Poll: Obama Approval Craters to Record Low:

Whenever I see a story about the latest horrible poll on Obama, and  then see that he’s still in the forties – albeit, the low forties, I tend to ho-hum, because who can forget President Bush’s abysmal poll numbers in his last year of  office? When I see numbers in the twenties – that, to me – will be cratering. I find it galling and absurd that even amidst a failing economy, failing foreign policy, and scandal eruptions galore, this president can still be polling in the forties. That wouldn’t be possible without a major media crutch.

I did some searching to compare Obama’s poll numbers with Bush’s numbers at this point in his presidency, and found at Gallup,  Bush’s approval rating had cratered to 25% in the last few weeks of his presidency. His high point was a stratospheric  90% September 21 and 22, 2001. His second term average was a depressing 37%, but in June and July of 2005, he was doing slightly better than Obama – mid to upper forties.

Media bias, of course played a role in Bush’s fall from grace, and has helped prop Obama up. But now, the scandal plagued president is becoming an unwieldy burden and the job of propping him up is becoming much more difficult. It will take Herculean efforts on the the media’s part to keep Obama from sliding further, and it will be quite a spectacle watching them try. 

Here’s a statistic that surprised me.

According to Gallup, President Bush’s first term approval average was 62%. Better than I thought.  Obama’s was only 49%. 

In other words, the Republican with the 62% average, won his reelection in a very close contest in 2004, and the Democrat won easily in 2012 with his 49% first term average. 

Could such a thing have been possible without the media tipping the scales in favor of their chosen candidate?