Bill Clinton is more popular than ever right now, notching a 67-29 percent favorable

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.salon.com/2012/04/30/bill_clinton_to_the_rescue/singleton/

Monday, Apr 30, 2012 01:35 PM CDT
Bill Clinton to the rescue
Not since Theodore Roosevelt has a former president enjoyed such a politically relevant post-presidency
By Steve Kornacki

The high-profile help that he’s lending Barack Obama – starring in a campaign video about Osama bin Laden’s killing, headlining a fundraiser in Virginia last night, plotting campaign strategy with top Obama lieutenants – speaks to Bill Clinton’s unique status among former presidents: Not since Theodore Roosevelt a century ago has one managed to remain such a political force after leaving office.

Clinton is more popular than ever right now, notching a 67-29 percent favorable in one recent poll, which helps explain why Obama is eager to enlist him in what should be a tight general election campaign. There really is no modern precedent for a former president being so actively engaged in a national election so long after leaving the White House.

Part of this is a simple matter of math: Few presidents were as young as Clinton was (54 years old) when he left the White House. Ronald Reagan, for instance, was 78 when his second term ended in 1989, and with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 1994, the public phase of his post-presidency lasted just five years.

Reagan was called out of retirement to help the beleaguered George H.W. Bush in the 1992 campaign, delivering a speech at the Republican convention and making a few campaign stops in the fall. But Reagan’s advanced age and declining health limited his activity, and his effectiveness was further compromised by his low public standing in the early years of his post-presidency. It wasn’t until the mid- to late-1990s, when he was living out his life in seclusion, that the relentless hagiography of his admirers helped restore Reagan’s popularity.

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This is going to be a big problem the GOP this year.

[bluestateguy]

1. While I don't doubt those numbers

There is a very easy explanation for that.

He is not taking the hits everyday like he used to. When you are bashed in the media and by the other side every day as Clinton was in the 1990s', and even into the 2000's, it will take a toll on your favorability ratings.

Now that conservatives don't spend their every waking hour bashing the Clintons as thy used to, there is no real anti-Clinton voice out there anymore. That creates kind of a feedback loop so his numbers will only go up.

[GoCubsGo]

2. I think theres more to it than that.

People also lived through the 2000s and GeeDumbya, so they had someone with whom to compare him. The contrast let people see just how good they had it under Clinton. Both Bill and Hillary still get bashed to this day by the usual character (e.g., Limbaugh's recent claim that Hillary's career pinnacle is being a secretary, as if being SOS is some lowly position.) Granted, not like when he was in office. I think his work with the Clinton Foundation also helps his positive numbers.

[NNN0LHI]

3. He left office with a 66% Gallup Poll approval rating

[Odin2005]

4. People associate him with the 90s prosperity.

Which is why he looks so good in retrospect even though he is a DLC Corporatist.

[L0oniX]

5. He signed the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act ...I blame him directly for the economic melt down.

[NNN0LHI]

6. Who do I blame for the economic melt down I experienced during the 1980's?

Here let me guess. President Carter.

Don

[TheKentuckian]

7. Nixon, Carter, and Reagan big time

Probably more blame being due as you move forward in time but there is enough to go around to where everyone gets a taste.

[L0oniX]

8. Hardly compares to what we have been going thru since 2008.