History in the Making

Well, we're witnessing history in the making. A new poll by CNN/Opinion Research Corps. puts President George W. Bush's disapproval rating at nearly 71%. A truly astonishing accomplishment. This is the highest recorded disapproval rating of any president and the first time that a president's disapproval rating cracked the 70% mark. In fact, the previous worst mark was Harry Truman who in 1952 had 67% of people disapprove of his job performance. Lyndon Johnson at the height of the Vietnam War never got to that level. Even Nixon just before his resignation could only muster a 66% percent rate. So this is truly a thing to behold.

I read once a long time ago (meaning not a prayer of finding the link) that poll theorists thought it pretty much impossible to get beyond 2/3 of people disapproving of you. Given that 2/3 is the magic ratio for impeachment, that theory made a certain amount of sense. But George W. Bush is not one to be limited to historical precendent. So he's blasted his way right through that mark.

The other amazing thing (aside from the sheer historic-ness of it all) is that John McCain, who's basically running for a third Bush term - stay in Iraq, make the tax cuts permanent - is virtually tied with the Democratic candidates in head to head polling right now. This tells me two things. First, it means that it's very good to run for president basically unopposed. Second, once the Democrats choose a nominee and really start a campaign, John McCain is in big trouble. So let's get going.