CLINTON APPROVAL before his second term was 62 PERCENT

[Straight Shooter]

I just had to see how our last democratically-elected President fared in the opinion polls at a parallel time in his term. January of 1997, roughly the equivalent to the recent poll just taken showing bush at 48%, Clinton was riding a respectable wave of approval of 62%.

http://images.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/01/16/poll.clinton/

Clinton Approval Rating
Approve 62%
Disapprove 31%

Clinton Approval Rating
1993 49%
1994 46%
1995 47%
1996 56%
Now 62%
(Yearly averages)

"How does Clinton's approval rating compare to previous presidents as they prepared to start a new term? Clinton's 62 percent is identical to the figure Ronald Reagan posted in mid-January 1985, and puts him in a statistical tie with Franklin Roosevelt as FDR began his third term in 1941. Clinton's approval is somewhat lower than Harry Truman's in 1949 and Dwight Eisenhower's in 1957, but is far higher than the 51 percent figure Richard Nixon posted at the start of his second term in 1973."

Historical Approval Ratings

Clinton, 1997 62%
Reagan, 1985 62%
Nixon, 1973 51%
Eisenhower, 1957 73%
Truman, 1949 69%
Roosevelt, 1941 64%

Hey, get a load of that, the Almighty Reagan's approval rating before his second term was the same as Clinton's.

Don't look back, bush, something's gaining.

[tridim]

1. And of those 31% who disapproved, probably 80%

disapproved ONLY because he had an affair. My parents still use that as their one and only reason for hating Clinton. I get blank stares when I ask for another reason. I could probably spend 72 strait hours giving them real reasons why Bush sucks.

Edit: Oops, I was thinking of the end of his second term.. Didn't he have almost 70% then?

[Straight Shooter]

2. I didn't check out his approval ratings at end of second term

Took me a while to find this info. But that's a good question. It also occurred to me that another interesting parallel would be to check his approval rating and how it correlated with his election numbers. Of course, he ran against Viagra Man, Bob Dole, who has the personality of a doorknob.

Yes, Clinton's dalliance with Monica hurt him, but a lot of people just didn't like him. I think 62 percent is pretty high, considering all that was going on with the right wing trying to take him down.

Here's a talking point for your parents: I don't care what is going on between the legs of a president; all I care about is what's happening between his ears. Do they care what their dentist does, or their doctor, or their mechanic? When does it begin to matter what a person's personal moral structure is? If it only matters for the president, why?

edit: Freudian typo :)

[Catherine Vincent]

3. That's my Clinton!