Why do liberals think approval rating determines whether or not a politician is efficient?

Question

Hitler's approval rating in 1936 was 99%, do you think he was a good leader?

Harry Truman had an approval rating of 23%, Carter had an approval rating of 28%. Do you liberals think they were bad presidents?

Answer 1

an efficient leader with character never bows down to the polls....wouldn't it be much easier for Bush to say i'm pulling the troops out just so I can become more popular.....He believes he is right in what he is doing and so do many others in the know.....that's is one reason I respect the man......

Answer 2

You're right, the approval rating is not a measure of how well a president is doing, it is a measure of what the people think of him. Now, for the last year I have heard that Bush's rating is 33% I don't think it's been the same all this time. People's opinions have a wide spectrum but it's only the extreme from both ends that makes it to the news.
From a personal perspective I don't think he is efficient. For example he refuses to set up a time line to leave Iraq, that's not efficiency.
Using Hitler as an example in this is kind of silly don't you think, it's like using Stalin or Mussolini, you said you didn't like them, you died. Bush hasn't perfected this technique quite yet.

Answer 3

Approval ratings are really only a popularity poll and does nothing to determine the effectiveness of anyone's policies. Truman had to replace FDR, one of America's greatest Presidents ever, and when he proved that he wasn't FDR, he lost his popularity. Both Ford and Carter had to deal with post Vietnam percieved weakening in military strength (it was largely on the lack of will to either use it or give them confidence) as well as with the post Watergate scandal where the people began to lose trust in any politician because one man was willing to spy on the other party and on anyone that entered his office.

Approval ratings will not prove Bush's effectiveness or ineffectiveness. That is HISTORY'S place to judge whether or not he is succesful, and that will take time.

Answer 4

Hitler was a good leader (his approval rating was NEVER truly that high, he only won like 35% of the election when he became chancellor). I'M NOT SAYING WHAT HE DID WAS GOOD!!!!!! I'm just saying that a good leader can get his people to do outrageous things for them.

Bad approval ratings do not show that a politician is doing a bad job, they just show that he/she does not care about the approval ratings.

Now I have a question, why do conservatives always bash a liberal politician over bad approval ratings when they are in office and vice versa?

Answer 5

I don't. The polls just show what people think about a politican. Right now, they're showing Bush is bad. They're also showing Bush does not have support from the general public, that he is stubborn, and that he is putting his own will above the will of the people, his bosses. If he were an employee with this kind of rating, he would already have been fired.

Answer 6

I don't depend on approval ratings to determine whether I approve of a president or not. I make up my own mind and so do the people who are polled.

Answer 7

Hitler was certainly efficient, if that's what you're interested in.

But you're right, approval ratings don't make a good or bad leader. Bush was bad even when his ratings were high. Now more people are finally figuring that out.

Answer 8

We don't think that approval rating determines anything. Approval rating is a reflection of how the people feel about the job he is doing. It depends upon how much the people are buying the propaganda! As time goes on, most people seem to be less susceptible to propaganda than they were in 1936, or even in the 70's. *sm*

Answer 9

Here's one thing I don't understand.
After 9/11 Cons crowed about Bush having the 'highest approval rating in the history of the Universe', now, approval ratings 'mean nothing'.
Their reasoning seems to be:
If approval ratings don't show 'approval', they don't count?

Answer 10

Here is a big surprise for you:
THE PRESIDENT WORKS FOR THE PEOPLE
Hitler killed those who did not approve.
I don't know how accurate the other approval ratings you show are, but in case they are, the President should look into why his ratings are horrible. Then do something positive.
It is possible to be efficient and bad too you know. Republicans do it all the time.

Answer 11

Well, you seemed to think it made Bush a great leader when Bush's approval ratings were up to 70%. Now you wish to back pedal when his approval ratings are only 30%? That's a classic con for ya.