The Craven eleven

here I was, enjoying reading the results of a Pew poll on Bush

In a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, respondents were asked to volunteer their assessments of how Bush would be remembered after he leaves office. The most frequent response, from 56 people, was “incompetent,” followed by “idiot,” “arrogant,” “ignorant,” “stupid,” and so on. Nine people volunteered a three-letter synonym for donkey.

After all, this was my wish for him, since his coronation in 2000 - to be covered in ridicule. I’d say, I got my wish

Overall, though, the Pew poll underscored the depth of public disdain for Bush, who now ranks as the most consistently unpopular president since the advent of modern political polling. He has not had the approval of a majority of Americans since the beginning of his second term, and has hovered in the 20s in most approval rankings for more than a year. An NBC-Wall Street Journal poll last week found that eight out of 10 Americans would not miss him once he’s gone.

But then, a funny thing happened. As I got to the devotees, a familiar number surfaced:

“Just 11% said Bush will be remembered as an oustanding or above average president — by far the lowest positive end-of-term rating for any of the past four presidents.”

11%? Where did I hear this very number recently? I check my prior entries:

Only 11% think Obama is clean

Just 11% say it’s not at all likely (connections with Blagojevich) according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey

Ah, yes, that transition without drama - as WaPo calls it seems to have generated an identical low number of unconditional lovers.

I am sure an interesting scientific theory could start from these facts, but I am not a scientist. So, I’ll just enjoy the irony and the symmetry and leave to others to make something of those numbers.

And I am now officially creating a new word:

the “elevenpercenters”. We got W’s and we got B0’s. W ended with them, Obama is starting. His media has their work cut out for them.

Mind you, they are bigger than the minority I was part of after September 11 (another 11?): the “ten percenters” who did NOT believe W suddenly became the bestest POTUS of all because we have been attacked.

Which makes me wonder if “11″ isn’t a result of pollsters adjusting their numbers a bit to avoid saying “90% are against them”. You know, like $4.99 is a better price then $5. Or, 90% were for W after September 11, but we won’t say that now 90% are against him.

That could be a theory explaining the identical numbers. It would explain more than that: Jr and Jr.jr are both equally protected by the opinion makers.