Miss Me Yet?

Okay I'm gonna start by saying "no." But...

So a Gallup Poll a little while back noted that George W. Bush's approval rating has ticked back up from 22% all the way to 45%.  At the time of the writing Obama's was at 52% (it's now at 44.7%).  Golly, for a man with an ego like Obama's this must be consuming most of his days.  

Now most of you know I wasn't the biggest Bush fan.  I don't like any president that spends too much (note: most presidents).  But I really find these statistics to be astonishing.  I mean, think back to 2008.  Seriously.  Voter turnout, especially among 18-25 year olds was huge, overall, Republicans were getting killed in the polls (specifically after Lehman Brothers collapsed), and Gavin Newsom had the country's best hair.  Okay the last one is still true.  His approval rating right before entering office was 78%.  SEVENTY EIGHT PER CENT!  

So what's the difference between now and then?  Bush put out a book (it's fantastic by the way), and we realized Obama didn't deserve the presidency.  Let's face it, it's true.  The country was in shambles, and we got Obama fever.  Well, some got Obama fever.  It's not that the expectations were too high - it's that he set the expectations and failed us.

The stimulus was supposed to fix the economy. It didn't.

We were supposed to be reducing overseas troops. They've increased.

We were supposed to repair ties with foreign nations. They hate us.

He was supposed to pay my mortgage and gas.  Bank of America keeps billing me.

He passed Obamacare, increased spending, wants cap and trade, and has basically ignored the will of the people.  He's basically 2004-2008 George Bush.  Except he can't throw.

Look, I'm excited about the upcoming Republican majority in the House, and the near majority in the Senate.  But I have my reservations.  Is this going to be the Republicans of the mid 90's?  Or the early 2000's?  The best thing they have going for them is their fiscal conservatism.  But politicians are notorious for lying in campaigns for the sake of self preservation (see my post where I advocate term limits).  So who knows what 2011 will bring us?  A push towards fiscal responsibility or the same old Washington politics?  Let's just say I've been duped before.