How old are you?

Saying one party is less charismatic is beyond ignorant. Open a book.

60% is a hell of a lot.

Onar,
I'm not sure how you say Reagan wasn't charismatic. Were you alive then to watch him? Just curious, but to say he wasn't charismatic makes me think you have only read about him, not watched him.

60% is slightly more than being unapproved. And far from 'everyone', which was your word.

At what point did I use the word "everyone"?
And if you look carefully back, I mentioned Reagan as an exception, not the rule.
"Saying one party is less charismatic is beyond ignorant. Open a book."
It may be ignorant, but it's my opinion. I have the right to it.

'Everyone' is directed at Invictus

He had approval in the mid 90s through 2002 if I remember right. I was but a lad.

60% of people thinking you're doing a good job is a landslide.

He was never in the mid 90s, and the only reason he was ever approaching 90 was because of 9/11 and Americans patriotism in its aftermath, where disagreeing with the president was equated with treason.

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-presapp0605-31.html

So Onar, are you basing your 'republicans aren't charismatic' on a statistical sampling of 3? (Reagen Bush and Bush) Or are there others you find uncharismatic?

onar...i never said anything about bush...you did so i would recommend you not assume my political beliefs until i state them

one of the few things that i will commend bush for is his steadfast belief that what he was doing was what he wanted and that it the best for the country even though the results would prove otherwise

although some would call that ignorant and reckless i believe that that made him one of the more trustworthy when it came to putting campaign promises to practice

@ everyone (invictus)... Okay, I'll bite.

First, as a background, Bush was always been a poor President. And a statement like "we all liked Bush," or however it was phrased, is not right. He wasn't actually elected president to start with. The Supreme court put him in after an election in Florida that ran within the accepted margins of error. Even the Republicans recognize this as truth. And he's broke every promise he made. Remember how he said he'd really go after Roe v Wade? That was, ah, kinda a lie, wasn't it? Nothing happened. Somehow he convinced his own party members that it was okay to break your campaign promises. Also, Bush never had the general good of our country in mind, but that will follow later.

As far as peace goes, Obama is already in productive talks with the Russians, productive talks with the Israelis and Palestinians. Even Hamas or Iran have recognized him. On another international level, the Obama administration just signed a UN declaration condemming violence against gay persons, a declaration that every other Western country has signed, but Bush would not do it. Obama made a great move there.

On an at home level, he continues to attempt economic resolution to the deep recession we are in (the problems with AIG stems from the Bush version). Obama has included many of the nuances the Republican leadership wanted to see in the bailout, even calling Obama a "Republican" president who was stealing their own ideas. Obama continues to reach across the isle to the Republican Party.

@Darwin... you've gotta be kidding. Helen Thomas?? You're basing your thinking on a Helen Thomas question? Sounded like he gave a non-answer to a very poor, and fully loaded question. I mean, does Israel have nukes? Is this news to you?

60% is the number Obama is at right now so saying that Bush's approval rating is terrible because he had a 60% is just plain stupid

@ invictus...

Politics aside, and I like Obama's politics thus far. I appologize about coming at you before... I thought I'd read "mapleleaf" instead of "invictus" and assumed I was being baited. You had a legit question about what I was thinking: how has Obama attempted to create peace? I sure hope he can. It's pretty messy right now, for one reason or another.

@ col.goose... It's not that his approval rating was terrible, he simply wasn't elected president. Bush never realized he didn't have a mandate from the people for ultra-conservative politics. Obama realizes that the country is split. He knows he doesn't have a mandate, but it's that transparency... that's why he was elected. After the Bush adminstration kept everything from America, lied to it (Weapons of Mass Destruction! Terrorists in Iraq! Etc.). America needed something different.

Also, in the worst recession in memory, Obama is already equalling Bush's popularity rating? Wow! Now that's something! Economy was great when Bush got in.

I hardly know where to start.

Bush was elected President. If you knew anything, you'd know that the Supreme Court decided to end the recount in Florida, it did not anoint him per se.

The President can't do anything about Roe v. Wade. The most Bush could have done is appoint conservative justices, which he did.

Somehow he convinced his own party members that it was okay to break your campaign promises."
I'll let the absurdity of that sentence speak for itself.

Obama is in negotiations about the missile shield in Europe, which is what the Russians are mad about. In fact, I think the issue's more or less dead.

I'd like to see where you found sources for productive talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Peace there is as illusive as ever.

"Even Hamas or Iran have recognized him."
I don't know what you're trying to say here.

On the UN declaration, that's meaningless, just like every other UN declaration.

He may be attempting to resolve the economic crisis, but it won't work. I will give him credit for trying, though.

"the problems with AIG stems from the Bush version"
I don't know what that means, either. AIG is a private insurance company that took on so many liabilities that its crashing would have made the panic even worse. Perhaps you mean Fannie Mae, but the problems with that government corporation were/are institutional and can't fairly be blamed solely on George Bush.

Who is calling Obama a Republican president? Those people, if they exist, shouldn't be Republicans.

Which isle is Obama reaching across?

You are being foolish.

Obama is a terrible president
I'd be glad to tell you why
bush was a terrible president
I'd be glad to tell you why
Reagan was a terrible president
I'd be glad to tell you why
Lincoln was a terrible president
I'd be glad to tell you why

also there is no way that you could possibly think that this is the worst recession. We are at a mere 8% unemployed rate compared to the whopping 24% that FDR inherited...also FDR took over 3.5 years into the depression while obama took over 13 months since the start of the last segment of recession(collapse of housing market)...and if you want to consider the entire post 9/11 years as one big recession its been 8 YEARS(march 01 is around the time it started). No matter how you look at it this recession is nowhere near as widespread as the great depression in both america and the rest of the world

@ invictus... it's a step. They are all steps that the Bush adminstration refused to take.

I accuse conservatives of not being conservative. They've forgotten what it means.

Obama is trying to clean up for so many of Bush's mistakes. Not getting elected in Florida... for instance. The Supreme Court appointed him in the face of a faulty election that (you've forgotten this part) was well within the bounds of election error. We don't know who won that election... unless you count the voting booths that registered a negative vote count for Gore.

I'm amazed you really believe the anybody tried to go after Roe V Wade. It was always just a political ploy.

Do you really think the Russian's are so upset with Obama when Bush was threatening them in so many more ways? He's a new president and the Russians are very much reacting to what came before: alienation from a President bent on calling other nations "axis of evil" while he himself committed, or ordered, war attrocities and murder.

What is election error?

You don't really know what you're talking about.

i guess americans are very lucky!

Haha, Sic. Can I guess that it has to do with the fact that in your world view presidents are inherently terrible? =)

Most presidents have endured intense criticism at the time, and the great ones we see today are judged through the lens of current moral zeitgeist. Time will tell where Obama and Bush lie.

I have to say, I'm glad that Obama is in office, but he isn't living up to the hype. Though, to be honest, I didn't think anybody in the world could live up to that hype... he's reached absolute celebrity status. It's funny but I that the ones who's expectations have been exceeded are those who didn't vote for Obama, and those that have been underwhelmed are those that did.

Also, I'd like to point out that while Bush was a terrible president, this doesn't mean he wasn't well intentioned. Also I think many of the problems associated with Bush are unfairly attributed and that he had the added bad luck of presiding over some bad times in general.

I don't like Obama's stimulus plan very much but I'm interested to see how it will be judged in the future.

It's already been mentioned, but 60% is a hefty approval rating.

Despite that Obama hasn't "done" all that much yet, he has a head start in that he has an almost universally favourable global reputation. In fact, it's almost just the American republicans who disapprove of him. =P

At the very least, this might give him an edge on international Diplomacy.

Bush knew how to run 2 wars and keep us safe. Obama cannot run Treasury!!!

hahahaha that ^^^ is awesome

my president is better than yoouurrr president... neener, neener, neener...
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I love Obama's personality... and I think he's very, very smart... and I trust his judgement (more than any other politician I can think of)... I'd like to think that he'll be a great president... BUT, I think it is a bit to early to say much of anything about his presidential accomplishments.
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Bush, in contrast...

To be honest we don't know yet whether Obama is a great president, we'll have to wait and see. He's definitely very promising though and seems to be doing well so far, but he has made promises that are going to be hard to keep (e.g. cutting the deficit down, making things more bipartisan)