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@ Robert

Since 2006, when the Dems took a majority of Congress, the GOP has filibustered like crazy and Bush set a record for vetoes, so nobody is buying your malarcky. Looking at the Congressional rating as though it's a statement about the Dems is nonsense. It's really a statement about how sick the populace is of the partisanship and the games that result when people allow politics to supercede rational thinking.

John Gotti had a higher approval rating.

The bounce is just buyer’s remorse by Democrats for electing Obama

QUESTION FOR DEMOCRATS: Shouldn't the real headline read... "Democratic-controlled Congress leaves office with lower approval rating than Bush, Truman or Nixon" ? Just check out the facts:

1. Bush exits on a 34% approval rating (only three points lower than Clinton's June 1993 rating, and nowhere near Truman's all-time low of 22%) while the 110th Democratic -controlled Congress exited on a horrific 20% approval rating.

2. In July 2008, the Democrat-controlled Congess set the 34-year Gallup history with an all-time worst rating of 14%. No President, not even Truman, ever posted anywhere near that low.

Short form: If there's a goat to kick around, look at our Democrat-controlled Congess not George W.Bush.

Ha. All this means is that more people are glad he's gone.

Boy, who are those morons?

Bush made some mistakes but he was alot better than what we could've had. A man who blamed the 1st Bush for NOT going into Baghdad in Desert Storm. A man who wanted to fight a "sensitive" war on terror. And now we have a man who can't set a straight foreign policy. I don't agree with lots of what Bush did, but I will give him credit for this country being safe from attack and for a stronger military. The economy wasn't his fault. The housing crunch was coming since the 90s. What does Bush have to do with people buying houses they can't pay for? HELLO people! Wake up and smell the responsibility.

I can endure Obama for 8 but its Palin 2016!

You people are hilarious! Rather than take responsibility for your own greed and entitled mentality that got this couny where it is. You want to blame it all on one guy in a White House. He was not perfect, however he played the hand he was dealt. I am sure all of you could have done a great job protecting the country from terrorists, saving people that would NOT leave a city before it went under water,after the fact. Saving the country from an economic disaster that was brought on by the deregulation of the Clinton era, supported by Obama. Iraq was a mistake, but everyone wanted someone to pay for the towers and the majority of you supported it at the time. Once you are in it you can't run from it. you have to finish it. Bush did not have have the national puse strings, that is congress. He did not hold anyone's head under water in N. O. after Katrina. The buses were there before the storm. And he certainly did not make the idiots buy homes and cars that they could not afford. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOURSELVES AMERICA!

I have never been a fan of President Bush...but he has been our President and he deserves the respect that comes with that office. I may not like his policy decisions...but I do respect his service to our nation. We need to put a stop now to this childish name calling of public officials...I hated when people did this to Bill and Hillary and now Obama...and I hate it when people do it to Bush. You can critize without the hate.

I believe that he and his entire administration should be brought up on charges of CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY (in addition to "War Crimes").

Yes he kept us safe after 9/11, but now we are all poor and without jobs. Do you realize he gave the authority to all these fortune 500 companies to send our jobs to India or other countries overseas? What do you conservative right wingers have to say about that? Your jobs were jeopardized as well.

Six more days and it will be time to fly the flag at half mast and upside down as a sign of distress!!

yeah, bounce...I'd like to bounce his head off a curb....

There is going to be a heck of a lot of people very soon wishing that President Bush was back in the White House.

Buh Bye, LAME-O!!! Instead of you worrying about terror striking, you should have multi tasked a little harder and made sure both the safety and welfare of your american citizens were not jeopardized. Instead, you sat around and waited for Bin Laden to strike again while the country's economic system went up in smoke. Thanks alot LAME-O!! You will definitely go down in history for this one.

Maybe he'll be closer to a respectable level if he acts more pathetic. It's a reversal from his past eight years of arrogant recklessness, but comes way too late. He gets a disapproval rating from me.

Far more Americans have died in Iraq than perished due to the terrorist attacks on 9/11. So, it would be fair to say that – rather than keep us safe – Bush created another event that would result in the unnecessary loss of thousands of American lifes. In any case, he certainly did not keep us safe on 9/11. Why is it that so many people give the man credit for an effort that is/was a day late and a dollar short?

Bush's accomplisments – AIDS relief in Africa and a reasonable, if not initiated, immigration policy are two examples – seem very small against the backdrop of his many failures.

For those that want to "heal the wounds" and "bridge the divide" in this country, you need to consider this statistic in the above article: "Three out of four Republicans polled approve of Bush's performance." I'm sorry, but that is downright pathetic.......for this group to haved viewed and lived through the abject and repeated failure of Bush's administration over the full range of policy issues....to have one aspect of that failure be "in your face" everyday now if the form one of this nation's biggest economic downturns ever, thanks in no small part to the lack of oversight provided by his cabinent and other appointees....to view all of this failure, and then to say you actually approve of it is a not so subtle sign of: (1) mental problems, or (2) such an intense hyper-partisanship that it leaves no room for analysing issues and learning from mistakes for the ultimate betterment of this country. I feel not the slightest sense of responsibility to offer my hand to such downright unpatriotic idiots.

but W didn't keep us safe on Sept.11, 2001
W killed the wrong man
W killed Sadam Hussein and Bin Laden is still out there
W is pitiful
W only thinks about W and tax cuts for the rich
what a sad presidency- he has done NOTHING in 8 years for the working person!

Amber January 14th, 2009 1:19 pm ET

"Up to 34% approval" is a bit like saying that instead of a turd sandwich, you now have a turd sandwich with cheese.

That's sooo funny! You cracked me up w/that one. I was ready to add the same "Who are these 34 percenters" but your comment just made it for me. Thanks for your humor. Really! It made my day.

Amber,

That's sooo funny! You cracked me up w/that one. I was ready to add the same "Who are these 34 percenters" but your comment just made it for me. Thanks for your humor. Really! It made my day.

Louis,

Typical hate filled Democratic comment. How about the Democratic controlled Congress that did nothing to help the economy. How about the Democrats dating back to Carter that directed Sallie Mae to give sub prime mortgages and reinforced by Clinton. Democrats need to stop spewing their hatred and try to move forward. If they can't they will be out.

I agree with "Louis" 100%. This president has ruined our country. I have no "nostalgia" for the last 8 years & am SOOOO glad to see Bush leave the scene. GOD BLESS PRESIDENT OBAMA!!

Oh, my... There's got to be a mistake in those poll numbers... But, wait. Mr Bush doesn't believe in polls because he doesn't care what the public is saying or thinking. He said as much himself in the Press Conference the other day and to Larry King last night. And he proved as much for the past 8 years as he flipped the entire world the middle finger with "My way or the highway," and "You're either with me or against me."

There is already so much evidence available that the 50 state Attorney's General should be waiting for Bush, Cheney, and Rice on Tuesday with indictments, military police, and handcuffs. And that should be just the beginning of the arrests from that administration.

QUESTION FOR REPUBLICANS: The article said you have "some nostalgia for the Bush years". Does that include an unnecessary war that killed 4,000 brave American soldiers, 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians, and wasted a projected $2,000,000,000,000 (2 trillion) hard-earned taxpayer dollars? How about the worst economy since the Great Depression? I think you should raise your standards for success just a little bit.

P.S. To all the morons who voted for Bush, thanks for nothing.

I am thrilled that Barack Obama will become our President next week. Nonetheless, I can only imagine the enormity of the pressures placed upon the shoulders of the President who is in office.

While I have disagreed quite often with the policies upheld by Bush, I also understand that the individuals surrounding the President command a great deal of influence. Unfortunately, President Bush had individuals like Cheney and Rumsfeld pressing his buttons. Condi Rice has tried to bring veracity to the table, and Powell decided that he could no longer accept the distortions brought by other Cabinet members.

In the recent weeks, as Bush has accepted he was leaving the White House and entrusting the leadership of America to Barack Obama, he has softened a great deal. His administration has been quite cooperative in making the transition as smooth as possible. He has allowed himself to be seen as vulnerable in his last few press conferences, and people have been able to see George W. Bush for who he is...something he has not always allowed himself to be seen as over the past 8 years.

So the "bounce" doesn't surprise me, and I really don't think it is undeserved. Bush tried to be true to himself. In most instances, however, the stances he took were not what was needed in the Oval Office. But that's who he was. Given the complexities of the issues that face a president, given the inadequacies of some of the people around him, and given his "Texas swagger" approach to people and issues, it is not at all surprising that he is leaving the White House with only 34% approval.

I am grateful Bush is leaving the White House, am confident in Barack Obama's values and in the people with whom he is surrounding himself, and hope he too can be true to himself in the face of the complex issues that will beset him.

It is the pathetic sympathy vote.................................... We should feel empathy for our disabled americans............that includes village idiots

lack of education abounds...
the nation is in its worst shape in the last 100 years and idiots like legal in nc, Faye in NV (part of the 34%) think bush is a savior. well, this is America and everybody is entitled to an opinion.
but I do want to bother you with some facts:
-bush ignored the warnings left behind by Clinton and his own Aug 2001 intelligence report
-bush is leaving office with the largest budget deficit in history after inheriting a surplus
-bush is the only president to start a war by choice

I see these "accomplishments" as negative, unlike you. In the long run, history may be less kind than a 34% approval.

A bounce? LOL

A bounce? LOL
Sure, from his loyal republicans! LOL

A little too late for that. Time to move on.

No, there's no way Americans are that gullible!!!!

George W. Bush should never have been given the Prsidency in 2000! He has destroyed of Nation and our way of life.

He hasnt kept us safe from anything. Thats what the RIGHT WING nut jobs want everyone to think, but it aint happening!!!

Well, the republicans now know where their base is at, 34%.

"Keep us safe", is he CIA director or a United States President? He still does not know his role as United States President.. He told Larry King -"the priority of president is to prevent US get attack.." He failed everything except told everyone US didn't have attack after 9/11. Gee.. we shuoldn't have attack on 9/11 anyway. These terrorists were trained in US to fly airplanes, and they flew US air planes to conduct the attack by using box cutter hijacking the planes... If all Americans are alerted enough, 9/11 shouldn't happen and won't happen. The question to him is – " why bin Ladan is still not captured/killed? and why al Queda is still around?" after all these years. What is his scorecard on War on Terror and al Queda? Why Taliban is coming back? Man.. just cannot believe 34% said he did a good job. He failed everything – from wars, Katrina, doubling our national debt to 10+ trillions,..,....

Kinda expected I guess, considering all the interviews he's been doing. He has nothing to lose at this point even if he sticks his foot in his mouth...
That being said, this defense of Bush by saying that "he's kept us safe since 9/11" is seriously just a bunch of BS. Those folks seem to underestimate the fact terrorists such as Osama bin Laden are willing to wait and plan before an attack. 9/11 wasn't something that they thought of overnight, months to years of planning went into it. And in the same light, if terrorists such as bin Laden were to attack the US, wouldn't be soon after they attack the US.... and in any case, Bush gave Osama and those like him a perfect opportunity to attack the US: by killing US troops in Iraq. Hate to point out this small little statistic but more Americans have died in Iraq than the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center... and we still haven't captured/killed the perpetrator of the attacks. Sounds like this so-called "War on Terror" is going real well...

And one last thing... THERE WERE NO WMDs, despite what all the right-wing nutjobs say trying to convince people that we needed to invade Iraq.

I agree with you Rena...you reap what you sow.

There is an 'awakening' going on ....which in turn raises the expectation for things to be better.....to get a grip of how important this is go to Uube and see: GreggBradon-God code creates reality DNA consciousness magnetic field (you scientist know what I'm talking about, including physics). Maybe if nothing else, this will help you see why we need to be positive moving forward.

that they've been safe from bin Laden in their little TV rooms solely because of Bush's tactics in dealing with terrorists--now that Obama is taking over and closing Guantanamo and ending enhanced interrogation techniques, we"ll all have to go out and buy armored cars to drive our kids to school and wear flak jackets as we go to work. Good luck.

Faye NV is naieve,

You want to give Bush props for keeping us safe after Sept 11th?

How about faulting him for not keeping us safe ON Sept 11th?

You take the good, you take the bad.

ZZZZZZZZZ

It appears it is you whose facts are off. He was elected AND CERTIFIED TWICE! You just can't revise history to suit your wants!

Thank you Mr President for keeping us safe.
I know the press only reports the far left propaganda but I wanted to let you know there is alot of people out here in Florida that is very
fearful about you leaving.

I hope the economy turns around on Jan 21st. If not, time to start blaming Obama instead of Bush.

zzzzz – get YOUR facts straight. Bush was appointed president in 2000, then finagled Diebold voting machine results in 2004.

So what has he done on the last month, other than start packing up to leave? And apparantly he can't even get THAT right in the eyes of the nation. 1/20/09 – the End of an Error!

I hope it is enough of a BOUNCE to get him far far away from anything Federal related.

For those of you who don't like what our current President did during his administration, maybe you should take a closer look. Since 911, there hasn't been one single attack on American soil. There were nine during Clinton. He inherited a recession from Clinton. During the first years he was in office we saw an employment boom and a move out of the recession. True facts check them out for yourself.

The democrats were warned over two years ago, before they became the majority about Fannie and Freddie. Almost all economists blame the subprime mortgage failure to the current recession. Those were started during the Clinton administration. Republicans tried to warn democrats, this is caught on tape, of the problems with Fannie and Freddie, the democrats blew them off. Democrats took over Congress a little over two years ago and the economy started to go down hill. Coincidence, don't think so.

Barrack Obama did nothing for Illinois, I know I live here. He will do nothing for this country. He only does what is popular at that time, look at how many times during the campaign he flipped on issues. Big government didn't work for FDR, it only prolonged the depression, Barrack wants to prolong the recession, so he can keep Americans dependent on him. Not me. I see through what he is, mark my words, Reagan lowered taxes and Capital gains taxes across the board and the economy recovered. Me getting an extra $20.00 from Barracks tax cuts, and yes I did the math, will not do me any good. A company who has lower taxes can hire more workers and offer cheaper goods. Raise their taxes they have to cut jobs and raise the prices on goods and services to compensate.

While we may not have agreed with what our President did during his eight years, I still think we are safer, just not popular. What would you rather do, be friends with someone who wants to kill you, or keep them from killing you?

Faye NV is naieve January 14th, 2009 3:21 pm ET

Faye, r Bush was elected – Twice. That gave him the right to be President — And you can thank President Bush for keeping you safe after 9-11 —-

-------------------------------–
Get your facts straight... Bush was elected ONCE. He stole the election in 2004.

Ut was all a poll con job to begin with!

Like the Bush-man said on Larry King last night, they do not pay any attention to polls, and polls can be made to say what you want them to say, son in essence this is no news.

There is a reseved place in Hell for GWB, his minions and supporters.

Well deserved to a great president!

Good riddance to him and his criminal administration. Hope to see him at a war crimes trial along with cheney. The most incompetant man ever to hold the office.

Ever heard of The Civil War? WWII? The Cold War? The Great Depression?… This is not even close to the worst our country has been through. The people of today are spoiled. We sound like a bunch of rich kids that have been asked to help around the house.

Faye, r Bush was elected – Twice. That gave him the right to be President - And you can thank President Bush for keeping you safe after 9-11 --

thanK you mR President for Keeping us All saFe

I guess this bounce comes in light of the fact he has been going around still trying to convince everyone his administration and presidency was awesome, but he needed to keep it a secret up until now. OR maybe the 5% bounce comes from the Bush family who just feel sorry for him.

There's gratitude for you. He keeps us safe after being dealt a lousy hand with 9/11 and Katrina and the likes of Sadam and his invasions of all his neighbors and we kick him on the way out. Let 's hope we all treat Obama better, no matter what happens on his shift.

One thing is for sure this man has reaped havoick on this great nation. But God allowed this man to be in authority. He produced some pretty bad things for the American people; but it's nothing that God can't fix. Somethings are allowed so we as a people of God would turn back to Him and stop trusting in ourselves. God want us to trust Him for our need not man. So, I say this was a wake up call from God to Amrica. Just like Jesus, didn't come here as the Jews expected neither did this man. God said, "he rains on the just and unjust".

Therefore, I say it is high time we awake from our sleep and turn back to God as a nation; and seek Him for all things. Stop depending on yourselves and others but depend on God. He has all the answers and is the only one who can make things better. We have forsaken God and not He forsaken us.

I pray Mr. Bush will ask God for forgiveness and return to His Heavenly Father. God bless him and his family.

What has he done???? I have four daughters that had very good jobs, now they all are feeling the pinch of this economy. But I love how everyone expects Obama to fix it within his first 100 days in office. Love it.

I do not agree with some of the decisions George Bush made, but I do believe he has done the best he could to keep this country safe. I pray the best for Obama's administration as long as they are fair and just to all. My main objective is to keep God's word in this country and not take God out of "everything" Our future depends on a God fearing nation. He is still the "Boss" not Bush, not Obama or anyone in Washington. We stand on the brink of eternity and we will certainly fall if God is not honored.

Bush had no business being President of anything.

They must have only polled morons, or maybe just the Palin family.

Anyone who tried to make sense of that farewell news conference last week can see why this country has imploded "on Bush's watch". That guy's logic and world view is so warped ... it's a wonder only a few hundred thousand people died because of his reckless policies.

Only 6 more days until competence is restored to our executive branch.

Just get him out already...

who are the right-wings scum bags that support this piece of garbage?

I believe that people are just glad to see him go, so they say, yeah, why not he wasn't so bad. These are the people that also need to go.

They can bounce him right back to Texas for all the good this will do this jerk.

I have spent the last 7 years actually despising him......I have to say I feel a little softer now. I watched him on Larry last night, and I have to say I understand things better. My mother taught me to have empathy for people who weren't as intelligent, or well rounded as we were! I blame the American people for the last 4 years, as he just didn't know any better.......the people however should have!

Who are these 34% of Americans? I would like to know. Maybe Bush's family members and old school buddies? Bush was a disaster for this country.

"Up to 34% approval" is a bit like saying that instead of a turd sandwich, you now have a turd sandwich with cheese.