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Bush leaving office more unpopular than Nixon

By Paul Steinhauser
CNN Deputy Political Director

WASHINGTON DC (CNN) -- On the day that President-elect Barack Obama is
visiting the White House, a new national poll suggests that the
current occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the most unpopular
president since approval ratings were first sought more than six
decades ago.

President Bush has the lowest presidential approval rating in the
history of such polling.

President Bush has the lowest presidential approval rating in the
history of such polling.

Seventy-six percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research
Corporation survey released Monday disapprove of how President Bush is
handling his job.

That's an all-time high in CNN polling and in Gallup polling dating
back to World War II.

"No other president's disapproval rating has gone higher than 70
percent. Bush has managed to do that three times so far this year,"
says CNN polling director Keating Holland. "That means that Bush is
now more unpopular than Richard Nixon was when he resigned from office
during Watergate with a 66 percent disapproval rating."

Before Bush, the record holder for presidential disapproval was Harry
Truman, with a 67 percent disapproval rating in January of 1952, his
last full year in office.

As Obama visits the White House to start the transition from the Bush
administration to an Obama administration, 57 percent of those
questioned think the transfer of power will be relatively easy and
free from tension, with 39 percent saying the transition will be
difficult. Video Watch what Bush and Obama may talk about �
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"A majority say that the transition from Bush to Obama will go
smoothly, although nearly one in four predict a lot of tension between
Bush aides and Obama aides in the next few weeks. That sentiment is
highest among Democrats, but even among them, a majority believes that
the transition will be relatively easy," Holland said. Video Watch
Obama's ambitious agenda �

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted Thursday
through Sunday with 1,246 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The
survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/10/bush.transition.poll/