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Poll: Public Split On Whether They Would Prefer Obama Or George W. Bush
Pres. Obama and Fmr. Pres. George W. Bush
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In yet another sign of political polarization, a new national survey from Public Policy Polling (D) finds that Americans are almost evenly divided on whether they would want to stick with President Obama -- or go back to George W. Bush.
The poll asked: "Would you rather have Barack Obama or George W. Bush as President right now?" The answer was Obama 48%, Bush 46%, within the ±3.9% margin of error. Consider what a close result this is, compared to Bush's amazingly low ratings at the end of his administration.
"George W. Bush's approval ratings were horrid his final few years in office because even a decent number of Republicans and conservative leaning independents were unhappy with him," writes PPP president Dean Debnam. "Now those folks wish they could have him back over Obama."
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George C
April 14, 2010 11:53 AM
This must be a bad dream.
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NJ woman
April 14, 2010 11:54 AM
Josh, you are compromising the reputation of this site by not having better quality control among your contributors. This poll WAY OVERSAMPLES Republicans. The sample has 38% Democrats and 38% Republicans, yet it is presented as legitimate national data. I would expect this on Fox news but not on TPM. Why is Eric repeatedly allowed to post this crap? Can't you hire decent people? I am reluctant to read the site anymore because this happens so much.
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Steve LaBonne
April 14, 2010 11:57 AM in reply to NJ woman
Sounds "fair and balanced". ;)
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Maritza
April 14, 2010 12:17 PM in reply to Steve LaBonne
Interesting that the PPP poll would have the same number of Democrats to Republicans at 38% to 38% when there neither of these parties has an electorate at 38%.
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CityGuy
April 14, 2010 11:59 AM in reply to NJ woman
Cosign NJ! No wonder the numbers split roughly even. Otherwise, this poll would be quite a shocker.
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lonesomerobot
April 14, 2010 12:08 PM in reply to NJ woman
I think the real issue here is that I have to read the comments to get the full context (poll split). I'm not here calling for Eric's head, but starting the post off with, "In yet another sign of political polarization," seems like rote breathlessnessism that, as other commenters have noted, I expect to find in other less thorough sources.
So, if Eric were to just post the poll results without comment, that's one thing. But he is continuing a narrative (political polarization) which I think deserves further digging, and not just some happy talk from the pollster in the place of true analysis. So in that light, he's basically taken the lazy villager approach...
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dswx
April 14, 2010 3:03 PM in reply to NJ woman
Very strongly seconded. It is trash, lazy reporting like this that really has brought TPM down. And in this case to nearly Fox News level.
The worst part is that, regardless of the comments about poor poll reporting over and over again, TPM completely ignores them. It has become quite arrogant. Especially when most of the time the reporters do not even under the concept of "margin of error". Or they continue to flaunt *Republican* Rasmussen polls as if they are objective polls. Really shoddy, lazy, and arrogant reporting here with no apparent effort being made to learn and improve things.
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markg8
April 14, 2010 11:56 AM
If NJ Woman is right then the only useful info from this poll is that the GOP still loves George Bush.
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lousgirl84
April 14, 2010 11:56 AM
Really Josh. This is something I would expect to see at Huffpo. Are you that desperate for stories. I took your survey today... I wish I had seen this before. It may have altered my positive comments about TPM.
Are you reading this Josh???
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NJ woman
April 14, 2010 11:58 AM
Another critical fact: 45% of the participants in this poll voted for McCain vs. 48% for Obama. The rest voted for someone else or didn't remember who they voted for. That means that all of the Obama voters are still very happy with him and would vote for him again, while the McCain voters still are not. Wow! What an epiphany! Again, crap data that drags down the reputation of TPM!!!!!!
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Silence
April 14, 2010 11:59 AM
The man earns his living selling ad space. It's not all about what you want or what you need. lol.
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CityGuy
April 14, 2010 12:03 PM in reply to Silence
Silence: Our expectations for this site are high, and we expect TPM to maintain their-usually-high standards.
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Silence
April 14, 2010 12:24 PM in reply to CityGuy
I expect to be entertained.
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dswx
April 14, 2010 3:09 PM in reply to Silence
Then go to a non-thinking site like Fox News. They will tell sheep like you what to think and say, straight from the RNC (as proven directly a couple months ago on the Daily Show, complete with the exact same typographic errors).
Or you could try some critical thinking....nah, you are Repub, that's beyond your capability. As clearly shown.
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FreeRider
April 14, 2010 12:08 PM in reply to Silence
Use your screen name as a directive and STFU.
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Matt Jones
April 14, 2010 11:59 AM
In other news: 46% of Americans in this poll are either racists, retards or work for a defense contractor and/or the oil industry.
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acf_ma
April 14, 2010 12:06 PM
If anyone wants Bush back, it's only because Republican mouths have so poisoned the climate in the country. Obama on his worst day is a major improvement over Bush.
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tomvox1
April 14, 2010 12:06 PM
Did they only call 622 registered voters in *Raleigh, NC*? The breakdowns speak for themselves:
64% of the participants are 46 or older
21% are older than 65
75% are White
50% of those surveyed want HCR repealed.
It's no wonder this poll's findings are so hard to believe, laughable even, not to mention the rather small sample.
I would pay money to see this same poll conducted among registered voters in New York or even the Northeast in general--it would be 90 to 10 in favor of Obama with none of that nonsense about healthcare repeal.
Between this and the garbage Rasmussen Ron Paul vs. Obama poll, this has not been TPM's finest day in political punditry and source review.
T.
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Powkat
April 14, 2010 3:07 PM in reply to tomvox1
So, cranky old white people are split over Bush and Obama. Doesn't sound too bad if you put it that way
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new10
April 14, 2010 12:12 PM
If accurate, this poll reveals the total lack of discernment by the American public. We would be deseving of a Bush redux.
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Sode
April 14, 2010 12:12 PM
This is crap!!!! I was not polled. There is no competition between Obama and Bush.
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rbe1
April 14, 2010 12:12 PM
No one has ever accused the American people of having an excess of intelligence.
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tiowally
April 14, 2010 12:24 PM in reply to rbe1
"No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."
— Henry (H.R.) Mencken
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tiowally
April 14, 2010 12:27 PM in reply to tiowally
Oops. Should've been H.L. Sorry.
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geofu54
April 14, 2010 12:14 PM
I suggest you stop posting poll results here altogether, TPM.
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lonesomerobot
April 14, 2010 12:18 PM in reply to geofu54
Well, no. Polls can be useful indicators. But I do think that these posts should automatically contain the basic facts of the poll (number polled & breakdown by party/ideology/age/geography). It really is all about the context.
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geofu54
April 14, 2010 12:33 PM in reply to lonesomerobot
That's my point, actually.
This is not the first time we have ever complained about the way poll results are presented here at TPM; TPM is not very careful or critical in their presentation/interpretation of poll numbers. What typically happens is if a pollster produces a piece of crap, they do not examine its sampling methodology, ignore MOE (e.g., say "slightly leading/trailing" when it's a statistical tie), present the crap just as is, as if it were anything meaningful.
If that's the best they can do, they better not post polls because it can do more harm than good. Not all polls are created equal, and they should be treated as such. I'd expect better from TPM is all.
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Maritza
April 14, 2010 12:15 PM
Who cares.
It is like polling Clinton vs Reagan. It would never happen.
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biff diggerence
April 14, 2010 12:22 PM
I miss the previous President as much as I miss an impacted follicle.
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traitorjoe
April 14, 2010 12:23 PM
America, who do you like, the Savior (Obama) or Satan (Bush)?
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lonesomerobot
April 14, 2010 12:26 PM
Another bit from the poll:
Liberal ........................................ 21%
Moderate........................................ 37%
Conservative.................................... 42%
hmmm...
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Kristin126
April 14, 2010 12:31 PM
In addition to the obvious sampling bias pointed out already by others, here is another thing to consider. Lots of folks are focused on the economy right now. When they look back at Bush's presidency, the economy was overall better and unemployment was lower than it is presently. That isn't Obama's fault as we all know. But some people view it that way and simply don't assign any responsibility for the present situation to Bush.
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darkrhyme
April 14, 2010 12:58 PM
Nice internals on that poll, PPP. What the fuck. How do you publish that kind of shit?
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inokeah
April 14, 2010 1:21 PM
It would be nice to compare the college records of the two presidents.
Oh, the Obama records are not available.
I wonder why?
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Roma Victors
April 14, 2010 1:47 PM in reply to inokeah
Do you have a link for Bush's records?
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Humantyphoon
April 14, 2010 1:58 PM in reply to inokeah
Well, we know Bush graduated with a b- average and I Obama with magna cum laude.
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dswx
April 14, 2010 3:05 PM in reply to inokeah
How about comparing the arrest records?
Bush and Cheney both have *criminal* records, sport.
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tomvox1
April 14, 2010 1:25 PM
BTW, Stanley Fish is already typing up another "Told You You'd Miss W." piece for the Opinionator as we speak... LOL.
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jsdc007
April 14, 2010 2:13 PM
What a pointless poll.
46% of Americans voted for the REpublican candidate in 2008, and presumably these are the same people who were GWB's fans.
Back in 2003 if you'd have asked Americans if they missed Clinton, you'd have gotten a similar answer.
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APoliticalOutsider
April 14, 2010 2:46 PM
Polls are misleading and useless. I don't believe any. They are bias.
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Dorn76
April 14, 2010 4:02 PM
So?
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tchanta
April 14, 2010 5:20 PM
Breaking News:
TPM acquired by Huffington Post
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ejg3
April 14, 2010 5:48 PM
This is an illegitimate poll as Bush can't run again since he's served two terms by 5-4 selection by SCOTUS and beating Kerry in 2004, I suspect most of these folks don't know that and in fairness we have a number of former governors running again this year after being out of office for a spell.
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ClearCutter
April 15, 2010 12:30 AM
Oh, listen to the liberals whine about Obama falling in the polls! Say it isn't so! How could The Messiah be infallible? So, how does it feel to support a President that sucks as bad as Bush?
It's hilarious; I’m just rolling on the floor laughing.
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