There's a part of me that thinks that the reason Bush's approval rating tanked is because since he was term limited, the republicans no longer needed him anymore. I think if the republicans still needed him to hold on to power they might have stuck by him.
I think Donald Trump has a 91% approval rating or whatever it is, is because they look at him as a transaction. They are willing to let him do whatever corrupt thing he wants to do and in exchange he's willing to gut the EPA and the CPB and nominate judges to the courts that will overturn Roe v. Wade. I think if the economy tanks during Trump's 8th year in office, his base may desert him because he can't run again and ensure another 4 years of tax cuts, gutting government agencies, and anti-abortion judges.
Nah, Bush’s approval ratings dropped hard early in this 2nd term, during the summer of 2005 (Katrina). He never regained his footing afterwards. Iraq became increasing unpopular. And the economy started going down in 2007 (didn’t become an official recession until later, but the late-2007 economy already felt like one). I don’t think the Republicans would have stuck with him.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/116500/presidential-approval-ratings-george-bush.aspx
