CHAPTER TEn • THE PREsidEnCy 233
raised more than half a billion dollars for the Democratic Party during his two terms.
President Bush was even more successful than Clinton. Barack Obama’s spectacular suc-
cess in raising funds for his presidential campaign (particularly via the Internet) indicates
that he is carrying on this fund-raising tradition.
Presidents have a number of other ways of exerting influence as party chief. The
president may make it known that a particular congressperson’s choice for federal judge
will not be appointed unless that member of Congress is more supportive of the presi-
dent’s legislative program.^10 The president may agree to campaign for a particular pro-
gram or for a particular candidate. Presidents also reward loyal members of Congress
with support for the funding of local projects, tax breaks for regional industries, and
other forms of “pork.”Presidential Constituencies. Presidents have many constituencies. In principle, they
are beholden to the entire electorate—the public of the United States—even those who
did not vote. Presidents are certainly beholden to their party, because its members helped
to put them in office. The president’s constituencies also include members of the opposing
party whose cooperation the president needs. Finally, the president must take into consid-
eration a constituency that has come to be called the Washington community, also known
as those “inside the beltway.”^11 This community consists of individuals who—whether in
or out of political office—are intimately familiar with the workings of government, thrive
on gossip, and measure on a daily basis the political power of the president.Public Approval. All of these constituencies are impressed by presidents who maintain
a high level of public approval, partly because doing so is very difficult to accomplish.
Presidential popularity, as measured by national polls, gives the president an extra political
resource to use in persuading legislators or bureaucrats to pass legislation.Recent Presidents and the Public opinion Polls. The impact of popular approval on
a president’s prospects was placed in sharp relief by the experiences of President George
W. Bush. Immediately after 9/11, Bush had the highest job approval ratings ever recorded.
By the time he left office, only 25 percent of the public approved of his performance
as president. As a result of his declining popularity, Bush accomplished very little in his
second term.
Obama’s initial popularity figures were also very high, but they were bound to fall.
Most of the erosion took place during 2009, a period of intense governmental activity and
bad economic news. Obama then endured a period of sub-50-percent job approval rat-
ings that lasted almost until the 2012 presidential elections. (One exception was a spike in
approval in May 2011, after U.S. Navy SEALS killed Osama bin Laden.) By October 2012,
however, Obama’s approval ratings were back above 50 percent, and they remained at
those levels into 2013.
Perhaps more important than the job approval ratings were the polls that reported
how citizens intended to vote. Obama held a modest but unvarying lead over Republican
presidential candidate Mitt Romney throughout the 2012 presidential campaign. What is
the effect of economic conditions on a president’s reelection prospects? We look at that
question in the Politics and Economics feature on the following page.- “Senatorial courtesy” (see Chapter 12) often puts the judicial appointment in the hands of the
Senate, however. - Here, the beltway refers to I-495, the interstate highway that completely encircles the District of
Columbia as well as many close-in Washington suburbs.
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