Obama is the 18th greatest president in history, says Brookings poll
No, seriously.
391 members of the American Political Science Association’s Presidents & Executive Politics section, the premier organization of experts of the American presidency, were invited to complete the online survey, which was administered by Brandon Rottinghaus of the University of Houston and Justin S. Vaughn of Boise State University.
Obama ranked 18th overall in the final tally.
Most conservatives I know regard Obama as the worst president of all time (which is odd, since without doubt he’s the best Republican president since Ford), and the progressives I know are even less charitable than that.
The only way I can explain these results is that somehow Sasha and Malia must have gotten their hands on the login information and pulled an all-nighter hitting refresh and voting for their father as many times as they could. A note to the pollsters – you realize that services like PollDaddy let you block repeat voting, right?
My god, some of this stuff is eye-watering. For instance:
…when asked which president should be added as the fifth face of Mt Rushmore, Obama ties with James Madison as the 7th most popular choice.
No, I double-checked. This isn’t an Onion story.
I don’t know what to tell you, folks. It feels like I’m being trolled, and right here on the day when we’re supposed to be honoring Washington and Jefferson and Lincoln and the Roosevelts and the Bushes. The idea that Obama is above average in some way gives one little hope for the future, you know?
Jesus is coming and if he sees this poll he’ll probably turn around and head back where he came from.
lullaby pit 
Hooray for President Obama. That he has been able to accomplish great things in spite of the shenanigans of Republican, Tea Party, and in some cases Democrat opposition, is quite an accomplishment, and one that will stand.
What has he done that you regard as a “great thing”?
Drawing down two pointless wars of corporate adventure, getting some (not all) people health insurance who couldn’t get it before, and encouraging an economic recovery stronger than that of our allies. Your objection is probably to the term “great”, but in the kingdom of the blind, a one-eyed man is king. Obama at least tries to do stuff, when Congress can’t and won’t act to address problems. Much of his “greatness” is just a matter of avoiding huge mistakes other presidents have made. 18th sounds about right to me.
Much has been written on Obama’s “victories” here before, but as a guy who has actually dealt with the ACA up close and personal, let me just say that it’s less wonderful than the apologists would have you believe. It’s great if you’re one of the insurance companies who actually wrote the bill, because it forces people to sign up for your services whether they can afford them or not.
Mainly, though, Obama has lost less because of the GOP opposition to his policies and more because he has tapped out before the fight started.
This said, I’ve had this argument a lot of times before and I know that no amount of evidence is going to convince his supporters, so I’ll just say it and move on. Think what you will.
18th out of 44. That puts him right smack in the middle as “average,” at least to my thinking. Which is where I figure he belongs.
I might have more to say if I could actually see the results, the survey questions, and who’s ahead and behind him. But I can’t seem to find those details.
YEA, IF YOU IGNORE A LOT OF THE STUFF HE HAS DONE. like fast and furious, doubled the national debt. actually over doubled. since i did not vote i guess it does not matter. i believe in free speech people can say some ugly things, but selling guns to criminals to further your anti gun agenda is going over board. that has killed hundreds maybe thousands and it will continue because the guns are still out there. sure he got his agenda of registering the guns sold in the board states but that was illegal also. prohibition has never worked and never will, it only puts money into the worst peoples hands. legalize all drugs, allow people to make decisions right or wrong and live with there consequences. trying to outlaw guns is nothing more than prohibition. i vote for worst, and it is not racial.
First off, Art, I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about on the debt.
And your comments on guns – I’d respond if I had any idea what you were saying.
That said, he has done a LOT wrong, and somewhere near the top of the list you’d have to put the Wall St. bailout. I’ve never understood why that didn’t make him a conservative hero. Other than, you know, the Negro thing.