Maddow on Q-Poll ranks of post-war presidents: "worthless & useless"
(though I'm sure we knew this already)
I put together this chart to highlight a simple truth: Democratic voters again divided their votes, split between Bush and Nixon, while Republican voters overwhelmingly chose Obama. As with Reagan, this partisan slant tilts the overall results.
In other words, what this poll tells us is that Republicans really love Reagan and really hate Obama.
I’m pretty sure we knew that already.
It’s a fun parlor game for historians and political junkies to rank presidents – I have my own list in mind, and readers are encouraged to share their rankings in the comments section – and it’s hardly surprising that polls like Quinnipiac’s add fuel to the fire. But to see the results as offering key insights into public attitudes and/or the merits of Obama’s presidency is a mistake.
* Update: Details like these matter: “Pollsters have been asking some variant of this question for over 15 years, and the person occupying the Oval Office at the time the question is asked always finishes at or near the top of the ‘worst president’ rankings…. In 1998, ABC News asked respondents which president had done the worst job in their lifetimes. Clinton and Reagan finished at a near tie for second, behind (you guessed it) Richard Nixon.”
This poll really is “worthless” and “useless.”
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-best-and-worst-modern-presidents
= new reply since forum marked as read
