These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
A Majority Now Sees Bush As Somewhere in Between Best and Worst Presidents
Monday, November 15, 2010
As George W. Bush tours the country promoting his new memoir, "Decision Points," voters are a bit less critical of the former president than they've been in previous years.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 37% of Likely Voters think Bush was one of the worst presidents ever, while just nine percent (9%) consider him one of the best. But just over half of voters (53%) says the former president is somewhere in between the best and the worst. (To see survey question wording, click here .)
Those numbers mark a slight improvement from results found in June , when 40% saw Bush as one of the worst presidents and 49% said he was somewhere in between.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on November 11-12, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC . See methodology .
In January 2009 , 57% of Americans said Bush is one of the five worst presidents in U.S. history, while 34% placed him somewhere in between.
A month before Wall Street's financial problems began hitting the front pages in late 2008, 41% of Americans said Bush will go down in history as the worst U.S. president ever , but 50% disagreed.
While most Democrats (66%) consider Bush one of the worst presidents of all time, most Republicans (72%) and voters not affiliated with either major political party (58%) say he falls somewhere in between.
The Political Class has distinctly different views of the ex-president than Mainstream voters do. While 67% of the political class rate Bush as one of the worst presidents ever, 58% of mainstream voters say he falls somewhere in between.
Forty-nine percent (49%) of all voters share a favorable opinion of the former president, while the same number (49%) views him unfavorably. But those numbers include Very Favorable reviews from 19% and Very Unfavorable marks from 32%. These findings show little change from June.
But a slight plurality (38%) believes that, over time, Bush's presidency will be viewed more favorably than it is now. Twenty-six percent (26%) say it will be viewed less favorably in time and 30% say his presidency will be viewed the same as it is now.
Seventy percent (70%) of Republicans believe Bush's presidency will be looked at more favorably as years go by, while nearly half of Democrats (47%) think it will be viewed less favorably. Unaffiliated voters are almost evenly divided on the question.
Nearly half of voters (49%) give Bush's performance since leaving the White House good or excellent ratings, including 26% who give the former president excellent reviews. Nineteen percent (19%) say Bush has done a poor job since leaving the White House.
In September , 52% said it's a negative description to compare a candidate to George W. Bush.
Voters have consistently blamed the troubled economy on the recession that began under Bush rather than Obama's policies .