Talk of Resurrecting a Moribund Presidency

I'm busy today trying to make a living so I only had, oh let's see, enough time to type "historical presidential popularity numbers" in google to find this information. So there is probably more out there readily available to anyone who wants to spend the time but I just had to do this to prove a small but fine point. It is useless to compare how Clinton and Reagan did it, they were both relatively popular Presidents, even if not trusted by a great majority of Americans.

Astonishingly, Bill Clinton's popularity broke the 70 percent mark only once: right after he was impeached by the House of Representatives, when he registered 73 percent. Throughout his second term in office, despite the Lewinsky scandal, Clinton's ratings were good and remarkably stable, averaging in the low 60s -- far better than in his first two years in office when they had languished mostly in the 40s.

Ronald Reagan's popularity started out in the low 50s, then jumped to a 68 percent high-point after the failed attempt on his life in March, 1981. The full John Hinckley bounce lasted only two months, however. Reagan's numbers didn't climb back into the 60s until after his big 1984 re-election victory.

I, for one, am going to enjoy the death rattle I hear deep within the respiratory system of the Bush White House. Talk all you want about resurrection folks, it isn't going to matter. People can't stand President Bush.