Bush's popularity has been dropping from the day he was elected

Something I've been noticing for a while, but I haven't seen mentioned much, is that Bush's popularity has been steadily dropping from the day he got elected. Every day he's been president is another day the American people like George Bush less and less.

That's a rather telling fact.

Bush's Popularity Has Been Dropping From Day One

Check out the Gallup poll results (via Slate) of Bush's popularity from 2000 to today. There has been a steady decline in his popularity from day one.

There have been a few major spikes in the positive direction, mostly when Bush declared war in Afghanistan and then again in Iraq. But shortly thereafter, each time, his popularity started to sink again. Just look at the chart, it's been one steady decline since election day 2000. That's bad. Real bad. And it's a point the media has missed.

Bush is not just an unpopular president, he's been an increasingly unpopular president from day one. The more the public knows about this man, the more they dislike him. Period.

Now, compare Bush's decreasing popularity to his predecessor, Bill Clinton.

Clinton vs. Bush



Clinton's popularity, on average, stayed the same from the beginning to the end. In fact, there was a sharp steady rise in the middle - Clinton did need to declare war to become popular - but in the end, Clinton started a popular president and ended a popular president.

Now, compare Ronald Reagan to daddy Bush, Clinton and sonny Bush.



What you see is that George Bush is just as unpopular as his father was - and Bush 1 was most certainly a failed presidency. At the same time, you see that Bill Clinton was just as popular, if not more popular, than Ronald Reagan - someone the Republicans like to consider a super-popular president.

The irony shouldn't be lost on anyone. George Bush ends up just as big a failure as his one-term father. And Bill Clinton ends up even more successful than Ronald Reagan. And that's the way history should remember all four of them.

Like I said, it's a fascinating chart.