Inheriting the worst economic crisis in 70+ years from his predecessor, along with a sprinkle of cheap populist politics on the part of Rush Limbaugh & the GOP, have nothing to do with the President's ratings.

LOL

As for narratives, Tex, can you give us your best guess that parallels Bush's rise to the peak of his presidency in 9 months, post 9-11, with nearly the whole world behind him & US, followed by the long slide based on an enormous catalog of idiotic statements and missteps?

Fair enough.

Actually, all I was really highlighting was the irony of the start of these two presidencies. Bush came into office under a cloud, Obama on top of one. Yet their approval ratings end up being pretty much the same after a number of weeks. Pretty amusing, in my book.

Approval rating of 76% this week.

Golly.

You are really stretching, Tex.

Sure, the elections of Obama and Bush were quite different. Bush effectively won the election through the courts, Obama won a clear mandate. You then want to suggest that a parallel in their respective popularity so soon into Obama's respective presidency shows that Obama has really fallen. This is just silly.

What you fail to note are the other circumstances the two men faced upon taking office. Obama was faced with the threat of economic collapse, war being fought in two nations concurrently, the largest loss of jobs in over two decades, etc. Perhaps the rosy circumstances you paint for Obama's entrance into the presidency are... overstated?

That and the fact that almost all other opinion polls seem to indicate much higher support right now for Obama suggest that, once again, you don't have a point.

Rasmussen says 60%.

That said, it's no surprise he's more popular than his stimulus package, given that it's nothing of the kind.

Gallup reports 59% today.

ABC News' pollster says Obama's poll average is strong (68%), but also almost exactly matches the average for the last nine newly-elected presidents (67%).

He also notes the strong partisan undercurrents represented in these polls since Bill Clinton. Interesting read.

He's worse. It took Bush years to get to this level. It's taken Obama less than 2 months.

And he's making it worse. What is your point? Creating more government jobs is the solution out of our economic woes? Forcing contractors to only use union workers is the solution out of our economic woes? I think we can agree that the mortgage crisis brought us here. And who supported the lending of money to those who couldn't afford a home.......the Dems (Dodd/Rangel).

Show me one recount that would have changed the votes in Florida and the outcome of the election. BTW, wasn't it the Florida supreme court who initially inserted themselves. That's when the election became a legal exercise.