Voter confidence index (VCI) ratings prior to U.S. elections from 1976 to 2008

This statistic shows the Voter Confidence Indexes (VCI) as measured prior to the midterm elections for each president from 1976 to 2008. In 2004, prior to the election of George W. Bush, the VCI was -11.

Pre-midterm election voter confidence index (VCI) ratings in the United States from 1976 to 2008

Characteristic	Voter Confidence Index
2008 George W. Bush Jr	-116
2004 George W. Bush Jr	-11
2000 Bill Clinton	45
1996 Bill Clinton	18
1992 George H.W. Bush	-84
1988 Ronald Reagan	15
1984 Ronald Reagan	62
1980 Jimmy Carter	-72
1976 Gerald Ford	25

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Release date

March 2012

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Region

United States

Survey time period

1976 to 2008

Supplementary notes

The Voter Confidence Index is calculated using answers to three typical polling questions; President's job approval rating, the direction of the country and the generic congressional ballot. The VCI is then intended to measure the level of confidence the U.S. electorate has in the president and their party.
The VCIs in this graph were calculated prior to the midterm elections for each president.
A positive value for the VCI is assumed to be a good sign for the president's party while a negative value is considered to be a bad sign.
To calculate the VCI poll results were sourced from NBC News/Wall Street Journal, ABC News/Washington Post, CBS News/New York Times, Fox News/Opinion Dynamics, CNN/Opinion Research, Pew Research, USA Today/Gallup, Ipsos (including AP, Reuters, McClatchy), AP/GFK, Bloomberg/Selzer, and Newsweek.

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