Barack Obama has largely, although not entirely, given up the bad habit of blaming the suboptimal state of affairs at home and abroad on his predecessor. While he might like to continue the practice, the efficacy of the president’s blame shifting for his failures onto the shoulders of a president seven years out of office has understandably diminished. Even if Obama has stopped blaming Bush, he surely took some measure of solace in that the public viewed him more warmly than they did his predecessor. Until today.
The result of a CNN/ORC survey released on Wednesday reveal that Barack Obama isn’t just more unpopular than George W. Bush, the architect of the Iraq War, but that the current president is the least popular living commander-in-chief.
“Bush is seen in a favorable light by 52 percent of those surveyed, compared with 43 percent who still view the 43rd president unfavorably. Americans are split on Obama, with 49 percent responding favorably and unfavorably,” Politico revealed. The Washington Post’s Philip Bump indicated that this survey also indicates that George W. Bush’s favorability rating now exceeds even Hillary Clinton’s. Both George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton are viewed positively by 64 percent of the public, with Clinton drawing a slightly higher unfavorable rating.
Those who would claim that distance and time make the heart grow fonder must contend with the fact that only 56 percent of survey respondents have a favorable opinion of Jimmy Carter (a president that, bizarrely, 6 percent of respondents had never heard of). What’s more, George W. Bush’s favorability isn’t all that dissimilar from Bill Clinton’s, despite the latter’s ubiquity in 2012 when Democrats touted his virtue as the administration’s “explainer-in-chief.”
Furthermore, the notion that all former presidents are rehabilitated in the minds of voters once they are out of office, and the present occupant of the Oval Office in the latter half of his second term will always be regarded poorly by voters, also lacks historical support. According to the Washington Post’s Scott Clement, other recent public opinion polls indicate that Obama’s “popularity numbers are running well behind historic norms.”
Historically, Obama’s standing is below the 56 percent average of presidential approval ratings in Washington Post/ABC News and Gallup polls dating back to the 1930s. His 45 percent mark is also just below average for other two-term presidents at this stage. He is significantly higher than George W. Bush (35 percent) and Harry Truman (24 percent) but lower than Ronald Reagan (52 percent), Bill Clinton (59 percent) and Dwight Eisenhower (64 percent) at this point in their presidencies.
A bigger challenge for Obama’s personal legacy is the sheer intensity of disapproval, which was also seen under George W. Bush. Nearly four in 10 (38 percent) strongly disapprove of his job performance, while 22 percent strongly approve.
Even if these polling results will have little impact on how voters determine to cast their ballots in the next election, the president’s vast ego must be a little bit deflated today.
