New poll on George Bush: Americans won't miss him

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

A new poll shows Americans thought more highly of an impeached president -- Bill Clinton -- when he left office in 2001 than we do of George Bush as he gets ready to wobble out of Washington in 2009.

Think about that for a moment:

Clinton was properly impeached in late 1998 by the U.S. House on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power, largely connected to the Monica Lewinsky affair and Paula Jones lawsuit.

Fortunately Clinton was found not guilty of the charges in early 1999 by the U.S. Senate. That would have been too strong of a reaction to Clinton's misbehavior.

When Clinton was getting ready to leave office, 51 percent of Americans said they would not miss him.

On Friday, a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey said that a whopping 75 percent would not miss Bush when he leaves office.

CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider put it well, saying:

"As President Bush prepares to leave office, the American public has a parting thought: Good riddance. At least that's the way three-quarters feel."