Quick quiz
 

This is a graph of what?

http://cellar.org/2007/quiz.gif

Presidential approval rate?

I don't have a better idea than that...

I truly did not think it would be figured out in 3 minutes. Well done!

http://cellar.org/2007/quizanswer.gif

Thanks! But...sorry for ruining the rest of what would have been a thread...heh

is Clinton the only one whose rating showed an 'upward' trend?

Yeah - otherwise, the commonality seems to largely be one of "aw shit, he's not the Great Leader that was advertised during the election."

edit as well as: starting wars can make a leader popular, but only for a moment - after which it's business as usual.

While he has dropped in the ratings W has been better than Carter, or Clinton. My personal thoughts on our President he is still better than the last. "I Like Ike".

Well, a third of the people agree with you, and that ain't too shabby, that's a lot of folks.

:::muted trumpet going WA WA waaaaaa:::

The trend seems to be: wedding/honeymoon - reality - reality - reality - divorce; New wedding/honeymoon...

I think it's interesting that before Reagan, each new President starts off pretty high, new hope and all that--but after Reagan, each new guy starts almost exactly where the old guy left off. I wonder how an economic graph from the same timeline would compare. Like it doesn't matter who's in office anymore, maybe we're just approving or disapproving of the general state of the country.

How can W start at 57/58% when he only got 50% of the vote?

People who didn't bother voting are asked their opinion. Whether 5% or 95% of Texas' population voted, it would still end up being a red state. But that's a difference of several million people who all have an opinion.

If it weren't for 911, the graph might look VERY different.

Thats hard to say - 9/11 caused the only obvious peak on bush's record but without it happening, it's entirely possible that Iraq might not have happened. Not probable, but... You can't ever really guess what would happen if X or Y hadn't happened, and its rather absurd to try.

That said... Without 9/11, I personally figger that bush's graph would be a much smoother, and deeper, descent.

Interesting graph. Many things could be deduced. What is the source of the data?

Don't remember, I think it was a WSJ feature.

Here it is, with an annotated chart for each prez.

the WSJ made a point of saying that Clinton is the only president whose approval rating was higher when he left office than when he entered.

amazing what a little oral not-sex will do for ya!

Which was why any centre-to-left-wing Brit interested in global politics was pole-axed when Bush was voted in... It was practically a day of mourning for us.

Of course I wasn't in the Cellar then. UT, you deserve a medal for fostering international understanding. Albeit in a small way. Perhaps a very small medal?

it was a day of mourning for me, too.

every time.