Reply #95: Actually, Iran-Contra drove Reagan's ratings down considerably

[diplomats]

from the 60s to around 50 percent and even lower. I didn't realize that until I saw a graph of Gallup approval ratings of presidents going back several decades. Reagan's numbers really took a tumble in his second term. They were much lower than Clinton's comparatively. That being said, I agree that the Niger issue isn't our magic bullet. Bush's numbers are dropping because of the continuing troop deaths in Iraq, the bad economy and the fact we haven't found WMDs. Bush's credibility has taken a hit but we can't put all our eggs in the Nigergate basket.