Tony's Blog

On Tuesday at 12 noon, Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States. Soon thereafter, George W. Bush will return to his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Both men, both baby boomers, are not only headed in different geographic directions, but as today's edition of the New York Times reports, different (actually, "differently" for the grammar-conscious) is how Americans rate both men.

As the nation prepares for a transfer of power and the inauguration of its 44th president, Mr. Obama’s stature with the American public stands in sharp contrast to that of President Bush.

Mr. Bush is leaving office with just 22 percent of Americans offering a favorable view of how he handled the eight years of his presidency, a record low, and firmly identified with the economic crisis Mr. Obama is inheriting. More than 80 percent of respondents said the nation was in worse shape today than it was five years ago.

By contrast, 79 percent were optimistic about the next four years under Mr. Obama, a level of good will for a new chief executive that exceeds that measured for any of the past five incoming presidents. And it cuts across party lines: 58 percent of the respondents who said they voted for Mr. Obama’s opponent in the general election, Senator John McCain of Arizona, said they were optimistic about the country in an Obama administration.