Bush and Cheney actually less popular now

A recent poll shows Bush's approval having dropped from 31% to 26% now, and Cheney's dropping from 21% to 18%.

It's crazy to think that a two term President and Vice-President could be at 26% and 18% in the polls. Even unpopular national leaders tend to hover in the low 40% range. It's almost impossible to get 80% of the country to agree on anything in a poll, but after 8 years of the Bush/Cheney debacle the public is pretty together on this one. I guess George Bush really was a uniter. Heck, even if you add their approval numbers together, you still get a pretty unpopular politician.

Cheney's diminishing popularity I kind of get. Since the election he has been all over the airwaves slamming the new administration, claiming we are more likely to get attacked, and attacking Obama's economic policies. After leaving the nation in a historical economic ruin following his 8 years, that last one makes Dick Cheney an early runner for the 2009 "pure balls" award. It's almost as if someone told him "there is no way you can get less popular than 21% approval" and he took that guy up on the dare.

Bush, on the other hand, kind of surprised me. People generally liked him as a person, they just despised his policies, record, and Presidency. I figured once he was out of office and unable to do any more damage to the country, the dislike would subside and he would creep up in popularity. Further, he was classy and supportive during the transition, and has refused to bash Obama - unlike some Vice-Presidents of his I can think of. Yet he dropped 5%. Which is not easy when you are already hovering at 31% - somewhere around the approval rating Americans tend to give Somali pirates. The only thing I can figure is people watched Obama for 100 days and thought "Oh yeah, that's what having a good President was like".