'Worst' president label doesn't fit

Much is being made of a recent Quinnipiac University poll that rated President Obama the "worst" president since World War II. On July 29, Dennis Johnson's letter said " ...the majority of the people in the U.S. think Barack Obama is one of the worst presidents ever." He also called people on the political left "knuckleheads."

As the Daily Herald does not scrutinize letters for accuracy, I volunteer my efforts. First, knuckleheads are found on either side of the political spectrum and even among the apolitical. We find them at our jobs, on the roads and at family holidays. Second, the poll did not say a majority of people think Barack Obama is the worst president. One third of the 1,446 people polled thought so; 28 percent picked George W. Bush for worst.

It's hard to understand why so many people would say "worst president" when we've come so far from the dark days of 2008-2009 when the worst recession since the Great Depression had cost us (and much of the world) millions of jobs, decimated the U.S. housing sector, and stolen 45 percent of our invested savings. It seems like Democrats are unable to overcome the messaging of their political opponents who cast the country as somehow devastated or otherwise hopeless. We've had significant recovery even with a dysfunctional Congress. Why are they pretending otherwise except to benefit their own ambitions for power?

We also can note that Obama's approval rating is the lowest of his presidency at an embarrassing 53 percent disapproval rating (Gallup). But wait, what's the historical context? George Bush's worst rating was 71 percent disapproval. Clinton made it to 54 percent and George HW Bush to 60 percent. Even Ronald Reagan endured 56 percent disapproval rating in January 1983.

David Troland

Arlington Heights