Ronald Reagan's approval ratings graph

[bluestateguy]

Notice how he didn't hit bottom (39%-40%) until January 1983 (equivalent of January 2011 for Obama), and hit the sweet spot running for re-election just as his approval numbers were surging.

[muntrv]

1. Raygun didn't have economic recovery until his 2nd year, yet the pukes

are all over Obama's ass just 6 months into office. Of course, they hated him since 11/4/08.

[Jennicut]

15. The Repubs? Try some on DU.

[vaberella]

17. Have you been on DU you long? It's all over here. n/t

[Clio the Leo]

2. When did THAT recession START?

My allowance was pretty good at the time so I dont remember. lol

[bluestateguy]

5. NBER says July 1981

It was a double dipper after the 1979-80 stagflation had subsided.

[Jennicut]

16. I was 5. I don't think I got an allowance yet. But I sure wanted one.

All I remember about Reagan is that our school made us talk about drugs and Nancy Reagan's Just Say No thing.

[tritsofme]

3. The approval rating doesn't even become a serious reelection indicator until we are 12-18 months out

But if he can keep his head above 50%, it should all be gravy.

[Colobo]

4. Obama is our Reagan, politically speaking.

He'll be the point of reference of the Democratic Party from years to come.

[bluestateguy]

6. So who will Obama sell arms to in exchange for hostages?

Just kidding.

[Colobo]

13. LOL! That's perhaps the main difference between them

Obama is a decent man while Reagan was... Reagan...

[baldguy]

7. Not bad for a guy who supported, funded & trained terrorists bent on destroying America.

[tabasco]

12. and sent a birthday cake to Ayatollah Khomeini

with Ollie North as delivery boy.

[baldguy]

18. Wasn't James Baker the delivery boy?

[tabasco]

21. I thought it was Ollie.

Maybe one of our esteemed colleagues can help us out.

[baldguy]

22. We're both wrong; it was McFarlane

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,962858...

So many criminals from the Reagan era, it's easy to confuse them.

[rurallib]

8. Is this why the re-animation team is working overtime?

[DrToast]

9. I'm not even worried about 2012

I'm more concerned about the economy recovering for 2010.

Still, I suspect the recession will end this quarter and we'll see a sluggish recovery. Sometime next year we'll start adding jobs again. Hopefully no later than Q2.

[Canuckistanian]

10. So Reagan was never as popular as Obama is now

By that chart, I don't see Reagan even reaching the 65% mark. And the bulk of his presidency is below that.

Why Reagan was termed "the popular president", I'll never know.

[valerief]

11. GOP MSM. nt

[Canuckistanian]

14. Yup. n/t

[MindMatter]

19. But this seems to be the thing that rallies the GOP

The problem they have is that soon, the majority of voters will not have even been alive when Reagan was President.

Voters turning 18 in 1996 were 5 years old when Reagan last ran for president

Voters turning 18 in 2004 were 2 years old when his Presidency ended.

18-year-olds who voted in the most recent election were only one year old when the USSR ceased to exist.

If you are 40 years old, you would not have been even close to puberty when Reagan delivered his "I paid for this microphone" or "There you go again" lines.

And if you are 22 years old today, you were not alive when Reagan made his most famous "Tear down this wall" speech.

So the GOP can have that corpse as their mascot if that's what they want.

[Oregone]

20. You sure thats not a graph of his demetia?