As President Obama looks toward his second Inauguration ceremony early next year, Harry J. Enten wonders in the Guardian [5]whether his high approval ratings will continue or if the POTUS' approval will take a dip.
You might be wondering whether Obama's honeymoon will hold. Most presidents run into a wall at some point in their second term. Presidents Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, and George W Bush all had their approvals drop. Eisenhower and Reagan recovered, while the others did not. President Clinton saw his approval rating remain relatively steady, even with the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Whether Obama's approval rating stays level, rises, or falls will be mostly dependent on whether the economy improves or enters a downfall. Obama could also be hurt by a political scandal like Nixon and Reagan. So far in his presidency, Obama has managed to remain relatively scandal-free.
What won't likely change is that Obama, as George W Bush before him, will remain a polarizing figure. Indeed, we would always expect that Democrats will approve of Democratic presidents in greater numbers than Republicans. Likewise, Republicans will always approve of Republican presidents at a higher rate than Democrats.
Read Harry J. Enten's entire piece at the Guardian [5].
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