Tool for tracking presidential approval/disapproval

@popey alerted me to this:

Seems fairly objective and interesting comparing different presidential approval/disapproval ratings.

Can’t say I’m surprised by these figures. I’m assuming these figures are based purely on adults living in the US and the two subsets given are (i) Those who vote and (ii) Those who have stated they do not vote perhaps because of apathy or because they are not eligible.

It would be interesting to see what results we would get if we asked a younger group of people, say those who were not able to vote in the last election because they were too young but will be eligible to vote in the next one.

I’d also like to see figures from other countries to see how is performing in an international context.

Living in the UK I’d say he appears to be universally disliked, almost as unpopular as Theresa May our primeminister who is seen as pitiful by many. This view may be skewed by my choice people who surround me as most of them share a similar political outlook to me - though I am hoping not to show any bias here

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I suspect we would see results similar to this famous Brexit graph:

image

It seems that as many get older they become more conservative. Reminds me of the quote often attributed to Churchill, but which seems dubious attribution, at best:

“If You Are Not a Liberal at 25, You Have No Heart. If You Are Not a Conservative at 35 You Have No Brain.”

Speaking personally, I have become a little more conservative in my later years, but primarily in financially and not in any way socially (I am very liberal in that regard).

I stopped taking polls seriously years ago for at least two factors. One, most polls are done in a way to ensure the results the ones polling desire. Two, with that in mind, not a few being polled will give facetious answers. I will see a poll on tv that will say that most people, x%, think that Donald Trump is (enter opinion here). And I will ask, are these the same pollsters that said Hillary was a shoe in? I’m not being political here. I’m just expressing my reluctance to believe any poll I come across.

Young people tend to be very aware of the injustice caused by how they’re oppressed by people with money and privilege. This anger about injustice lasts until they get old and obtain some money and privilege of their own, at which point the idea of keeping that money and privilege suddenly seems more attractive. Galbraith (I think, unless it was Oakeshott) said “A conservative is a man with something to lose”, and he had a point. (Also, bonus points for aphorisms that can be interpreted in multiple ways.)

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Unfortunately Stuart I think that’s true of too many people. I’d like to hope more of can remember that we are all capable of finding out selves at the wrong end of society if we have a run of bad luck. I hope we are capable of showing compassion when it is called for.

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I guess I have achieved one out of three there! :slight_smile:

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I was wondering when the irredeemable sack of shit that is Trump would show up on here :laughing:

I am not curious what a redeemable sack of shit would look like. :slight_smile:

I think that money and privilage definitely plays a role, but I also think as people get older they want to live a more comfortable life too.

As an example, when I was 18 I relished spending hours configure my XFree86Config file but now I just want things to work.

Compost? :stuck_out_tongue:

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@blueish4 indeed, a redeemable sack of shit is compost. :slight_smile:

Fair play, sir.

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This depends on your definition of comfort. If I can sit at a bar drinking a nice cocktail but looking down on a beach where people are sleeping, not out of choice but because they have nowhere else? Or am I more comfortable sharing a cola and a veggie stew with some of these people knowing they can stay in an hostel tonight?

You probably know my politics well enough by now to know where I stand but this is a question we should all be asking of ourselves.

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