And it's nowhere near George Bush's low point. If Obama feels bad about his current predicament, let him take some advice from George Bush:
LAUER: When you left office, President Bush, your popularity numbers were around 30 percent, give or take, depending on the poll. You say it... It didn't bother you?
BUSH: No, it didn't.
LAUER: You know, I try to personalize that. I-- I've been doin' this job for 14 years. And if after 14 years, only 30 percent of people who've watched this show think I did a good job--
BUSH: They'll fire ya.
LAUER: Well, it's gonna hurt like hell.If you chase popularity... you're chasing a poof of air.
BUSH: I don't think it does. No. Because I-- I also was, as you just mentioned, at one time over 90 percent. I didn't take it seriously then. I don't take it-- didn't take it seriously when I left office. Somebody walked up to me the other day and said, "Congratulations. Your popularity is way up since you left office." And my answer was, "So what?" Seriously. I mean if you chase popularity, you're chasing a moment. You're chasing a poof of air.
On the other hand, this is a democracy. And, like the man said, They'll fire ya.
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64 comments:
And here is an example why:
Velma Hart, who burst onto the media scene after telling President Obama she was scared about her financial future, has been laid off. Hart was let go as the chief financial officer for Am Vets, a nonprofit Maryland-based veteran services organization
Just another one of the 9+ million jobs lost since Harry & Nancy were sworn in...
And of course none of this is his fault whatsoever. Nope.
The buck stops somewhere else with this guy.
"The buck stops somewhere else with this guy."
As he has repeatedly told us, the buck stops with Bush.
"As he has repeatedly told us, the buck stops with Bush."
Yet he also reminds us "We must not relitigate the past."
He could really use a big red fluffy clown nose.
What sticks out to me when reading this is that Bush's percentage is presumably all Americans polled and Lauer's percentage is of Lauer's viewers. "A poof of air" is sort of funny. GMay, you see Bush passing the buck?
It has been an amazing turn of events for the Boy King, with Americans going from great hopes in him to despising him for lying to them all of the time, and realizing he lies so that they would not notice in time the sword he was brandishing to slash away their way of life. In the movie Dr Zhivago , the Dr said that some Dr has to keep the body politic alive while social experimenters are bringing it near death. The Boy King is now going to see what free men and especially free women think about Obama's Dr Mengele type of experiments done to a Scots-Irish people.
And people are ready to fire Obama..
A thick and succulent steak.
On the other hand, this is a democracy. And, like the man said, They'll fire ya.
No, it's a representative republic. Big difference, one I'd expect a law professor to know.
Chip, to Lauer fruit is fruit and there is no difference in an apple and an orange.
If you lick on the Zogby link it takes you to a 1999 poll. "Opinion of Bill Clinton continues to fall".
I prefer the finish to the quote consisting of "..you're chasing a moment" rather than a poof of air.
I read Lauer in that interview bit you quoted as Laura and wonder why she's interviewing him.
Bush did a lot of things I did not like, but I find that I have to like Bush.
GMay, please explain how "no need to relitigate the past" translates to "passing the buck."
(You're not doing very well this morning. Clown noses are squishy rubber plastic, not fluffy.)
Don't think I am defending Bush, I am defending language.
what lies were those, trad-guy?
garage mahal said...
If you lick on the Zogby link
Here we go again.
Bush's popularity fall was because of relentless media narrative that's keyed to their target audience (women).
Obama's popularity fall is in spite of it.
A very rural lawn sign that appeared right after the 2008 election results pic.
One guy not fooled.
"Here we go again."
Heh.
I'm tellin ya, Mike, it's becoming a comedy comment blog.
WV: torte
I like that attitude
If you chase popularity... you're chasing a poof of air.
When you have a job to do, a job that is important and vital to the safety and security of your organization.... and the job entails things that might make 'some' people uncomfortable or even angry, you can't sit and worry that you might become unpopular in some circles.
You have to do the job to the best of your abilities and not waiver from your principles. You can't sell your soul for popularity.
As a country colloquialism. The phrase is pretty good.
Here is one about Obama. "You might as well try to nail jello to a tree". Slippery sucker isn't he?
Sgt Ted...The basic lies are Global Warming Hoax promotion and their pretended green windmill jobs. Add to that whopper and outlawing of CO2 emissions by EPA hoax science. And see that every statement he made about the Health Insurance Reform were 100% lies to cover up for his bringing socialized medicine in to replace a good system that he just intentionally destroyed. And shutting down Gulf Oil drilling for a hoax altered report of dangers, all to benefit Soros' plans in Brazil. And also telling our allies to forget our help unless they submitted to being sold out to our joint enemies first, all done to take authority over Jerusalem from those pesky Jews. I have to leave now, but the list goes on and on.
Obama is a punk. He's an arrogant prick with an aloof and resentful temperament.
Only the inestimable Joe Biden still thinks Obama is a brilliant statesman.
The rest of us see Obama for the punk that he is.
Before the midterms, I wrote in the comments here that the 2010 election was going to be like the scene at the end of Tommy where the disciples pull off the eyeshades, pull out the earplugs and the corks, and start smashing things, singing "We're Not Gonna Take It." And that was BEFORE the latest TSA groping debacle. This is what happens when a false messiah is exposed:
"We foresake you,
"Gonna break you
"Let's forget you better still"
This is stupid:
It took George Bush 8 years to get there - under a steady, and relentless, barrage of lies - this fool is in a sprint.
The comparison is garbage.
Bush, that supposed dunce, is a grownup: maybe the most important thing to look for in a leader.
If you chase popularity... you're chasing a poof of air.
That's why I never bothered:
People will come around when they discover for themselves that you're right.
I'm tellin ya, Mike, it's becoming a comedy comment blog.
Comedy as in believing a comforting Fox Nation piece (that links to a 1999 Zogby poll of all places) that Obama is unpopular. Gallup has him at 47%, virtually unchanged from a year ago. But no matter. It just sounds so good! Not to mention Obama is being polled on his job approval, when Sarah Palin really has no job to be judged by. Wonder if Lindsey Lohan has been polled recently. She is popular, she's in the news almost every day it seems.
Sometimes I see a minivan in the parking lot at the store when I go grocery shopping. It has a bumper sticker that says, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." And it has not one but two Obama bumper stickers. That was some DAMN expensive ignorance, wasn't it? But we're older and wiser now.
I didn’t agree with everything Bush did, but I love his attitude about the presidency itself and his personal demeanor. Something Obama could learn a lot from, if he chose to pay attention.
"On the other hand, this is a democracy. And, like the man said, They'll fire ya."
Bush's 'pay no attention to popularity' is a nice sentiment for a memoir, but remarkably poor advice for a sitting president -- and one of the key reasons why his presidency took such a turn for the worse in the second term. A president has to convince the public to accept his policies, that if adopted, his policies will improve their lives -- it's the 'bully pulpit' idea, and when it works, the president can bring the country along with him. And where the country goes, the Congress is sure to follow. And when it doesn't work, the president has trouble getting anything done.
FDR and Reagan were able to maek effective use of the bully pulpit; Bush (at his best, in 2001-2003) was also able to do that. But when he turned to domestic policy, not so much. Obama has been pretty ineffective on that score, and if you plotted his effectiveness over time, it would be a downward slope getting steeper over time. Perhaps he will figure it out. But I haven't seen anything to suggest that he will -- he mostly has the ability to convince the already convinced, while everyone else is tuning him out.
"But no matter. It just sounds so good!"
You really want to use this argument?
"If you chase popularity... you're chasing a poof of air."
Hence the ephemeralness of the current administration's achievements, and the subsequent grumbling and dismay on the part of his groupies. Is it any wonder certain people, like Velma Hart that Jay mentioned above, are "exhausted" from defending him? They're chasing that poof of air themselves in order to validate their selection in the last election. He's simply not going to be as popular as he was when he was able to play off his constructed image during the election (as opposed to his actual substance and achivements, which were sorely lacking); being in office and forced to demonstrate what amount substance you actually possess will do that to a person. Yet, those groupies seem baffled at the dislike and continue to chase the other poof of air that is Obama's supposed substance. And try to find ways to blame his failures on "bitter clingers".
There's more than one poof of air to chase. Popularity is only one of them. And the groupies are chasing more than one.
Lincoln's was very low too until he got popped. Then his popularity soared.
This didn't help Garfield much, or McKinley for that matter.
But I think people realized that Lincoln was doing what he did for a larger cause.
I think Bush was, too.
I have no idea what OBama is doing, and I have the sense he doesn't either.
Sorry, garage, but I didn't lick your link.
"And, like the man said, They'll fire ya.
Peacefully abdicating the office after serving as President for the maximum amount of time allowed by the 22nd Amendment now equates to getting fired?
No. Not winning a re-election bid does.
Garage, the Zogby poll may put Obama's job approval a little lower than other recent polls, but 39% isn't outrageously different from 45%.
What puzzled me is the comparison to Sarah Palin's "job approval rating". It got me wondering what her current *job* is. Leaving the reality show stint out of it, she is basically engaged with the people she cares about, her community, trying to give them a voice and improve their situation through political action. In other words, she is a community organizer. That bodes well for her chances in 2012.
Ahh. Flipping it back to O. Gotcha. Thanks, Scott.
You can find unpopularity in more than one way also; either by doing the right but painful thing, or by fecklessly doing blatantly wrong things. Bambam's inexplicable retention of popularity has to be the result of the sycophantic leftstream media lovefest, which may itself finally be ending. We may finally see some movement in his polls. As others have said, I was disappointed in many ways by W, but he was definitely working against a hostile media industry. I despised the TOTUS since before it was cool; I knew his qualifications from before the primaries, and watched, appalled, as people voted for him..
Ann Althouse said...
And it's nowhere near George Bush's low point.
????
Last I heard, Dubya went out at 34. Don't believe he bottomed much below that. In any case, it's pretty close.
The Crack Emcee said...
This is stupid:
It took George Bush 8 years to get there - under a steady, and relentless, barrage of lies - this fool is in a sprint.
Excellent point. Dubya started falling after Katrina, almost 5 years in. The Zero did it in about half the time.
And he has 2 years to go.
PS Don't sweat the comment in the cafe thread. I got your point.
Chip Ahoy asked: "GMay, please explain how "no need to relitigate the past" translates to "passing the buck."
...
Don't think I am defending Bush, I am defending language.
I didn't think this was hard, but maybe it just seems obvious to me. Here's the breakdown for ya, since I have a little extra time:
I made the comment about Obama failing to take responsibility. Then Mike jumped in with a comment about Obama's worn out excuse of blaming of his predecessor.
So far we're still not making any real leaps here. We're both talking about passing the buck. Then apparently I went off the linguistic deep end.
I referenced Obama's comment about not wanting to bring up his past within the context (provided by Mike) of Obama feeling perfectly free to bring up the past of the previous administration.
Do you see how I moved from the subject of passing the buck to a slightly different subject in a logical progression there? It's almost like a conversation.
Anyone else think Axelrod's "recharging his batteries" before tooling up the 2012 re-election effort is just another way of bowing out before all the cards start to fall? Does anyone give any serious consideration to the notion Axelrod might find a "personal reason" not to manage that campaign?
Scott,
You're gonna have to assign some odds to those questions. I'm a bettin' man.
I prefer Rasmussen. Whats interesting is how weak Obama's support is.
47/52 is no biggie, but if you look closely at the numbers,
of the 47% who approve, only 28 strongly approve.
but of the 52% who disapprove, a whopping 42 strongly disapprove.
And it's nowhere near George Bush's low point.
But imagine where Obama would be with the same media treatment. Do you remember when it was of the utmost importance to give us the daily count of soldiers killed in action? Remember when it was important to photograph military caskets? Remember the daily media demands for Bush to admit that he made mistakes? No? I'm guessing the media doesn't either as none of these things seem to apply to Obama.
But imagine where Obama would be with the same media treatment.
Yes, but imagine where he would be under similar economic circumstances. I think media treatment is a minor factor compared to the burden people feel day-to-day from economic pressure.
"Yes, but imagine where he would be under similar economic circumstances."
You say that as if Obama is not responsible for those economic circumstances.
that Obama is unpopular
Obama is unpopular.
You say that as if Obama is not responsible for those economic circumstances.
You say that like Obama could make much of a difference in the economic circumstances, or that things would be much better if McCain had been elected.
I just implied that Obama's job performance rating is linked to the state of the economy.
I just implied that Obama's job performance rating is linked to the state of the economy.
The President's performance is always linked to the economy.
Is Matt Lauer really approved of by 30% of the US population? I doubt it. (His negatives are probably low, though, since most people, such as myself, don't care.)
"You say that like Obama could make much of a difference in the economic circumstances"
I don't say that "like" Obama could make a difference, I'm flat out saying it. His anti-growth policies are a serious drag on the economy.
I don't say that "like" Obama could make a difference, I'm flat out saying it. His anti-growth policies are a serious drag on the economy.
Was watching MOrning Joe this am before work and (I can't remember his name) but one of the guests was talking about how even Democrat CEOs and business people are aghast at this administration's complete lack of focus on business.
What I find troubling is that these supposed smart folks didn't figure that out 2 years ago.
His anti-growth policies are a serious drag on the economy.
You willing to throw me a bone and give an example or two? Anything under Obama as bad as Sarbox?
Bush could have been a lot more popular if he'd respected the wishes of the American people on deficit spending and border control (sorry, Seven Machos).
He chose to defy the people's will, and he says he's content with his decisions.
Bush may say he doesn't care what the public thinks of him, but he did the country a lot of harm, including setting the stage for the election of Obama.
"You willing to throw me a bone and give an example or two?"
ObamaCare. Tax increases (a.k.a. letting the Bush tax cuts expire).
Uncertainity over health care regulations and tax rates discourages hiring.
WV: sconi. I had the same word last week. Is blogger running out of words?
The President's performance is always linked to the economy.
It's also linked to the ability of he President to show some kind of leadership ability. People would be much more patient if they had any feeling that this clown had a clue on just about anything.
"Kirby Olson said...
Lincoln's was very low too until he got popped. Then his popularity soared.
But I think people realized that Lincoln was doing what he did for a larger cause.
I think Bush was, too."
=================
Try as I may, I cannot seem to come up with Bush's Lincolnesque deeds.
1. 480 billion spent hiring TSA and other "Heroes" to keep America safe from 5,000 "Freedom -hating Evildoers who "Hijacked the Religion of Peace"?
2. HIs tax cuts for the wealthy as he grew government faster than anyone since LBJ's heyday?
3. His stalwart standing up to the passing things of popularity...bravely deciding to buck them and give seniors their free drugs paid by CHina IOUS? Refusing to court popularity by vetoing a single Republican pork packed bill passing his desk? Bravely fighting the popular will that said "keep an eye on those wall street crooks" - instead saying if you can't trust my heavy donors, who can I trust.
4. His great nation-building adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan after the enemy was feated in a month?
Ah yes, Dubya, Our era's CHurchill...and Our Lincoln!
The polls have shown Obama at 45ish for a year. That's not bad given the economy. Reagan was at the same level or worse in '82. If the economy grows at 3-4 percent rate for the next two years he's fine. If it grows minimally or shrinks, he's toast
With the last days of Obama staying in the White House, he seems to decline in terms of trust rate. However, I would like to commend him for his support on same sex marriage under the family law. Jacksonville FL, is a place where same sex marriage is unrecognized. I hope with him supporting this, perhaps the community will slowly accept it.
As much as the people seek justice through Jacksonville criminal lawyers same sex couples are also hoping for a law recognition.
Obama advisor and pedophiles who work for Democrats are running rampant in the DC Metro area:
Robert Decheine, chief of staff to Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ), was arrested in Gaithersburg, Md. last Friday on charges of soliciting sex from a minor.
...
Decheine was a senior advisor to the Obama campaign in 2008, according to PolitickerNJ. He previously served as chief of staff to Rep. Bill Luther (D-MN).
Democratic party values on display.
George W. Bush served two full terms as president while America was the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth. That's a very exclusive club, and it contains exactly none of the presidential popularity poll respondents.
I don't agree with all of the ways he spent his political capital, but he didn't leave office with a bunch of it hoarded and useless. I'm not sure that by nature he's a thoughtful, reflective man, but certainly his father's career succeeded in giving Dubya an appropriately broad perspective regarding the presidency in the very biggest of pictures.
In a book about basketball David Halberstam quotes O.J. Simpson, quoting an unidentified hockey announcer:
"Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, and money takes wing. All that endures is character."
(or something like that)
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