by Mark Silva
Nearly two-thirds of Americans surveyed still hold an unfavorable view of the 43rd president and his vice president, according to the Gallup Poll - "very similar to where they stood with the public in their final White House years.''
Since they left office, Cheney in particular has been outspoken about what he thinks of President Barack Obama's administration - suggesting that Obama has put the nation's security at greater risk with his approach to terrorism and foreign policy. (Obama, for his part, has replied that Cheney's approach to terrorism was a "great advertisement for anti-Americanism.''
Bush has withheld judgment, publicly saying that Obama "deserves'' his silence.
But the public's judgment of the past administration hasn't changed much since Bush and Cheney packed up a little over two months ago - just 35 percent of those surveyed holding a positive view of Bush in the latest survey, actually down from his 40 percent favorable rating in January, and just 30 percent hold a similar view of Cheney, which represents a flat-line in opinion about the ex-V.P. for more than the past year.
Bush's end-of-term rating "represented an unusual spurt in positive feelings toward Bush, possibly due to changes in media coverage of the embattled president as his term ended, or because of Americans' generally buoyant mood leading up to Inauguration Day,'' Gallup reports.
"The 35 percent of Americans viewing Bush favorably today is close to his all-time low of 32 percent in April 2008, '' Gallup notes. "Bush's ratings have consistently been in negative territory since July 2005, a sharp contrast to his generally positive image throughout his first term.''
Gallup notes that Bush's first paid speech as a former president, in Canada last month, established a "post-partisan'' stance toward his successor: "There are plenty of critics in the arena. He deserves my silence." Bush went further, saying "I think it is essential that he be helped in office."
Yet Democrats remain "overwhelmingly negative'' about the former Republican president, with just 10 percent holding a favorable view of him and 89 percent an unfavorable view.''
Gallup notes: The 30 percent of Americans viewing Cheney favorably today matches Gallup's previous favorable reading on him, obtained in July 2007, which was his all-time low.
The March 27-29 survey of 1,0007 adults carries a possible 3 percentage point margin of error.
"Bush and Cheney have only begun to emerge publicly after departing Washington, D.C., in January,'' Gallup adds.
"Thus far, Bush has promised to stay out of the political fray while Cheney has stepped squarely back into it. If this distinction holds over time, it could conceivably contribute to a divergence in how Americans perceive the two -- with Bush's personal image among Democrats softening while views toward Cheney become even more polarized.
"Of course, other factors will come into play as Bush and Cheney establish their post-presidential roles in public affairs, and as the Bush presidency continues to be assessed. At this early juncture, however, public attitudes about the two former leaders have not yet changed.''
Comments
I wonder if there are lessons to be learned form this.........na...what was I thinking?
Posted by: bill r. | April 3, 2009 8:59 AM
This means nothing.
Posted by: UnfrozenCavegirlBlogger | April 3, 2009 10:55 AM
It's too soon to expect Bush/Cheney unfavorables to change. We're still trying to unravel all the bad that they created.
Posted by: Quippy | April 3, 2009 12:06 PM
Makes one wonder what the agenda is when articles on Bush and Cheney start popping up, again.
Diversion, staging, preparation?
Who knows? One has to pick through all news articles and balance with foreign media to try and find some truth.
There are no journalists, just media stars. And those media stars have their own agenda that seeps into their "reporting".
Dont' believe everything you read, do your own research. Read lots of "newspapers".
There are paid consultants that plant, distort and spew a ginned up version of the "truth".
Search and digest information.
And vote.
Posted by: Nance | April 3, 2009 12:26 PM
Well the economy flopped in the last year of the Bush administration, so folks will not look too kindly at this point. Also, the Bush administration had perhaps the most negative coverage of any administration, even when there was good news. The surge worked; won't see that in the media. Iraq is on a good path; won't see that either. But I would imagine that in four years, after yearly $1 trillion-plus deficits, sky-high inflation with high interest rates, Obama's numbers will tank. While Obama himself is still high in the polls, most polls show a majority of Americans oppose his budgets, oppose his deficits, oppose his tax-and-spend policies. What will the Corrupt Media do then?
Posted by: John D | April 3, 2009 1:31 PM