44% is not high. The average approval rating since Gallup started asking the question in 1941 is 55% (with little difference between the parties). Clinton's second-term average was 60%. The second Nixon/ Gerald Ford term was 42%. In what universe would 44% be "high"?
[WS:] In a universe in which people make their preferences based on merits. As I already argued, the preferences for politicians in the US are relatively high (44 is greater than zero!), mainly because of a generally conservative bent that these politicians and the population at large share.
Stated differently, the general tenor of US politics is conservative, and this sits well with the generally conservative population. This is reflected in high (usually above 50%) approval ratings that virtually all politicians routinely get. These ratings may go down a bit if population is unhappy with some of their policies, but they never go to zero, or even single digit numbers, as in the case of left-of-the center candidates who never make it through the primaries, let alone elections.
Compare it to an ordinary person whose "rating" is based for the most part on the merits of his or her work. If those merits are below average, the approval rating of that person is functionally zero - that is, that person is sacked! Clearly, this is not the way in which US politicians are judged.
Wojtek