In 2020, the political sphere is quite polarizing and contentious. The Democratic Party as well as the Republican Party have always butted heads on a multitude of issues and one of those is the credit given to Donald Trump as president. Many Republicans are generally satisfied with his presidency while many Democrats miss the former days of a calculated, poised Commander-in-Chief. A new study wanted to put this to the ultimate test by comparing the opinions of the two presidents to the opinion of the country’s very first president, George Washington. A Monmouth poll where over 900 people were surveyed was conducted in early December, the 4th and the 8th to be exact. These 900 people were asked very simply if they thought Barack Obama was a better president than George Washington or if they felt that Donald Trump was a better president. Interestingly enough, neither president was considered conclusively better than George Washington by this initial poll. Thirty-Three percent of people surveyed said that Barack Obama was a better president when asked the first question and fifteen percent claimed that Donald Trump was a better president than George Washington. That being said, the poll results become a lot more engaging when split along party lines.
When the results were specified between party lines, the results show a fascinating opinion held by the Democrats. Sixty-three percent of Democrats felt that Barack Obama was a better president than George Washington. To put it simply, Democrats believe that Barack Obama was a better president than the founding president of the country. For context, this poll was conducted earlier on in the Democratic primary and Monmouth polls were interested in tracking the appeal of the various nominees backed by the party. Among these candidates was the contentious Democrat Michael Bloomberg who was met with lower ratings than Donald Trump when he first entered the race. For a candidate who’s purpose was to defeat Trump, things weren’t looking very good for Michael Bloomberg at that point in time. How can Bloomberg’s struggle to garner Democratic support speak to the party’s love of Barack Obama?
It’s complicated. The Democratic Party appears to be more biased with information and politics in recent years compared to historical presidencies. This would mean perhaps that the opinion can change for Obama as time passes by and his presidency becomes a thing of the distant past. Republicans are more likely to look on earlier presidencies more favorably than contemporary, modern presidencies while the Democrats are usually the opposite. Republicans reflected this perception in the poll when the majority of them agreed that George Washington was a better president than Donald Trump. For them generally speaking, at least, history stands the test of time however, things are usually not this black and white.
