Approval ratings in context...

Honestly, I don't know why I care, but the bloviating asshat wingnut megaphones that have been celebrating Obama's approval rating slide have been really getting under my skin. It seems that this week Obama's numbers have rebounded a bit; Gallup reports a nudge up to 57% from an Administration low of 52% in the previous week.

To put all of this into perspective, here are the ranges of Gallup approval ratings from January to August of the previous eight presidents' first terms:

President..........Low.........High
Eisenhower..........67...........74
Kennedy..............72...........83
Nixon..................58...........65
Carter.................60...........75
Reagan...............51...........68
Bush...................51...........70
Clinton................37...........59
Bush...................52...........63

Interesting to note that Obama, who is dealing with a deeper economic crisis than anyone on the above chart, isn't faring any worse than previous presidents. Yesterday's unemployment surprise seems to be another item pointing to a recovery coming on the horizon, which will only help Obama's numbers.