Rasmussen, a GOP poll, shows W at a 39% approval rate

[Erika]

How much lower can we expect him to go? At www.rasmussenreports.com

[TahitiNut]

1. Rasmussen openly admits that their results can be 3-4% higher than ...

... polls where the respondent is asked "approve or disapprove."

When comparing Job Approval ratings between different polling firms, it’s important to focus on trends rather than absolute numbers. One reason for this is that different firms ask Job Approval questions in different ways. At Rasmussen Reports, we ask if people Strongly Approve, Somewhat Approve, Somewhat Disapprove, or Strongly Disapprove of the way the President is performing his job. This approach, in the current political environment, yields results about 3-4 points higher than if we simply ask if people if they approve or disapprove (we have tested this by asking the question both ways on the same night). Presumably, this is because some people who are a bit uncomfortable saying they “Approve” are willing to say they “Somewhat Approve.” It’s worth noting that, with our approach, virtually nobody offers a “Not Sure” response when asked about the President.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/ElectionPollsPollingMethodology.htm

[raysr]

2. How can he stay that high? nt

[badgerpup]

4. how did he jump 6%?

:wtf:
He was at 33% right before the election and his job performance has NOT noticeably improved.

[TahitiNut]

8. Not in Rasmussen's poll. That's the point.

Not only do polls have margins of error, they have different sampling techniques, slightly different questions, and different 'normalization' techniques. PollKatz is a decent overview of trends.

[EST]

6. I got polled by rasmussen yesterday

and I gave his chimpyness a "strongly disapprove."

[TahitiNut]

9. 'Strongly Disapprove' is a clear plurality opinion.

At around 40-42%, it's conceivable that it could become the majority opinion. Only the overwhelming bias of the corporate (public relations) media makes it difficult for average folks without the time and interest to do careful assessment of the available information and come to that opinion - that, and the imbecilic partisanship of so many who have postures ("team loyalty") rather than positions, imho.

[Old and In the Way]

3. If you look at the combined polling trend, one could draw a linear

plot that follows all of the datapoints. I think it puts him at 10% or less by 2008. I think the real floor is around 25%...those people will never give him a unapproval, no matter what happens...they'll only be more convinced that ________ is to blame.

[Sherman A1]

5. Agreed

There are just some folks that will give him their approval because the questions do not offer them any real alternative or they are not paying any attention, don't care, etc. However even hardcore Republicans are not happy with this guy.

[Hubert Flottz]

7. Diebold must tabulate the thing for them...

I'll bet he can't bust the 30% mark now.

[WI_DEM]

10. I'll say this about Rasmussen their '06 campaign polls were very accurate

and seemed fair.

[rinsd]

11. Actually that's 3 elections in a row they've been pretty accurate

Along with Survey USA (which is another robocaller) they seem to be doing the best job.