Dick Cheney Is The New Dan Quayle In Poll Numbers
July 9th, 2007
By JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief
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We know we may get an invitation to go out hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney for noting this but:
Cheney has now apparently morphed into the new Vice President Dan Quayle:
Vice President Dick Cheney’s popularity has hit an all-time low, with recent polling by The New York Times and CBS News suggesting that he has replaced Dan Quayle as the most unpopular vice president in recent history.
Two polls taken in May and June reveal an erosion of Mr. Cheney’s base of support — seen in both his job approval rating and his favorability. Just 28 percent of those polled in June approve of the job Mr. Cheney is doing, while 59 percent disapprove — a reading similar to that of President Bush. (In July, 1992, Dan Quayle’s job approval rating reached an all-time low with 63 percent of the public disapproving of the job he was doing as vice president.)
The highest rating for Mr. Cheney was 56 percent in August 2002. Mr. Cheney’s favorability among Americans has also suffered — it fell to 13 percent in May, from a high of 43 percent in October 2000.
13 percent?
O.J. Simpson probably has better poll numbers.
And worse: Cheney is rapidly losing Republican support, too:
The polling shows that he is even having trouble among his conservative base. Just 31 percent of Republicans and 26 percent of conservatives say they have a favorable opinion of Mr. Cheney. And 47 percent of conservatives questioned say they approve of the job he is doing, while 40 percent disapprove.
In other words, there are conservatives who won’t go along to be in a cheering section applauding the human fourth branch of government.
But Cheney has other big problems, as well. The New York Sun:
More than four in 10 Americans want the House of Representatives to begin impeachment proceedings against President Bush, and more than half want them for Vice President Cheney, a new poll shows.
In a survey of 1,100 people conducted last week by the American Research Group, 45% said they favor impeachment of the president, while 54% favor it for the vice president.
Why the difference? While the results may highlight lower public opinion of Mr. Cheney, they may also reflect a practical consideration that advocates of impeachment often point out: If Mr. Bush is removed from office through impeachment, Mr. Cheney would become president.
Cheney has become something unusual in a democracy: a public official who truly seems to find the way traditional democracy works — and public opinion — as bothersome and tiresome. By all accounts, he operates in his own, increasingly powerful and above-the-law cocoon.
The GOP is facing a challenge in 2008. Not only must Republicans run with the baggage of President George Bush but with the even heavier baggage of Vice President Cheney who is increasingly being seen as a bigger drag than John Travolta in “Hairspray.”
You could argue that in terms of public support Cheney has no place to go but up — except for the fact that he still continues to slide down.
Where is the bottom?
This entry was posted on Monday, July 9th, 2007 at 9:34 pm and is filed under Republicans, Approval Ratings, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Polls, Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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