Donald Trump averaged 41% job approval during his first quarter as president, 14 percentage points lower than any other president in Gallup’s polling history. Bill Clinton had the previous low mark of 55%. The average first-quarter rating among post-World War II presidents elected to their first term is 61%, with […] Read more »
Obama Averages 52.0% Job Approval in 31st Quarter
During his 31st quarter in office, President Barack Obama averaged 52.0% job approval, up one percentage point from the 30th quarter and the highest in his second term as president. … Of the six presidents who served 31 quarters in office, Obama is the fourth to have majority approval at […] Read more »
Presidential job approval ratings from Ike to Obama
Perhaps no measure better captures the public’s sentiment toward the president than job approval. … We looked at Pew Research Center data going back to Bill Clinton, and Gallup data going back to Dwight Eisenhower. These ratings reflect, for example, how views of presidents have become more politically polarized, as […] Read more »
America has never actually welcomed the world’s huddled masses
… The outcry over resettling a relatively small number of Syrian refugees — far fewer than France vowed to take in even after the attacks — isn’t an exception; it’s more like the rule. Yes, the United States has been generous: Since 1948, close to 4 million refugees have come […] Read more »
No Drama Obama
President Obama’s middling job approval rating has been quite steady over the last few months, devoid of much movement outside of the relatively subtle shifts seen from poll to poll. This is nothing new: Based on Gallup’s polling, Barack Obama’s approval rating has the smallest standard deviation of any modern […] Read more »
Why This Scandal Won’t Hurt Hillary
… The Hillary Clinton e-mail controversy is just the latest entrée in a decades-long, calorie-rich menu provided by the former first lady and her husband. But will it make a difference in 2016? Scandal allegations are almost always an enormously time-consuming distraction and they make it virtually impossible to communicate […] Read more »