I don’t do polls, but…

I’m not terribly interested in polls – I think for the most part they are too easily manipulated by the way in which a question is asked and do not take into account that one person who “disagrees with how the president is handling Iraq” might mean they want the US to pull out, while another person may support the war very much but wish the US were being more aggressive.

So, if you notice, I rarely post on polls, whether they are showing numbers I like or dislike.

However, I thought this post by Dr. Sanity was interesting, because it joggled my memory. First she quotes Byron York at NRO’s The Corner:

I recently asked Gallup to send me a chart of every presidential job approval it had ever taken — they go back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. What it shows is that every president in the last 40 years has had a low point in which his job approval ratings went into the 40s or 30s, and sometimes lower.

Bill Clinton hit 39 percent job approval in August and September 1994. George H.W. Bush hit 29 percent in July 1992, and 33 percent in October of that year. Ronald Reagan hit 35 percent in January 1983. Jimmy Carter hit 28 percent in June 1979. Gerald Ford hit 37 percent in March 1975. Richard Nixon spent most of 1974 in the 20s, hitting 24 percent just before his resignation. And Lyndon Johnson hit 35 percent in August 1968.

Wrote Dr. Sanity:

Clinton dipped to 38% job approval in August and September 1994? I certainly don’t remember any significant brouhaha being made about it at the time…. But, obviously, considering the enormous faith that the MSM and the Left have in polls, we must conclude that their beloved Clinton was a failed president–even worse than W –using their own standards of evaluation!

After reading that – and the comments section – I did remember Clinton’s numbers going that low, and Clinton even having to come out in a presser to say that the Presidency was still relevent.

None of it really matters, though. Things turn on a dime. I personally think it is remarkable that Bush’s numbers are as high as they are, given the relentless pounding he takes in a press that underreports good news on Iraq, North Korea, the economy or…anything, really…and which over-reports on the negatives.

Hmph.