More than half of Americans think they’re worse off than they were when President Barack Obama took office, a new Bloomberg National Poll says. The survey found that that 51 percent think their situation has deteriorated, 35 percent say they’re doing better, and the rest aren’t sure.
It could be worse, though, Bloomberg’s Rich Miller notes. At this point in Ronald Reagan’s presidency, 61 percent thought they were worse off than before. And by the end of George W. Bush’s last term, Americans said by a 2-to-1 margin that their financial situation had deteriorated.
Another set of comparative stats: Everyone knows Obama’s approval rating is down, and most stories about the numbers compare them with those of a previous president, usually Reagan or Bill Clinton. Now TPM has posted a slide show comparing Obama’s figures two years into his presidency with all his predecessors’ back to Eisenhower. And yes indeed, Reagan and Clinton were held in similarly low esteem. On the other hand, so were Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford…