Bush could barely fill a room at the White House with all of his supporters last night. Our next president is receiving very high marks for his transition. People really do want change and are willing to cut him some slack (for now). From Gallup:
President-elect Barack Obama receives a remarkably high 83% approval rating for the way in which he has handled the presidential transition, significantly higher than the approval level for either of his immediate predecessors just before they first took office.For comparison, Gallup found Clinton's transition approve/disapprove was 68%/18%. For Bush, the breakdown was 61%/25%.
Obama's transition approval rating has actually increased slightly over the last month, despite the fact that he has encountered a few "speed bumps" in terms of his Cabinet appointments, including the withdrawal of his appointee for commerce secretary, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who was forced to drop out owing to investigations into possible improper business dealings in his home state.
