Kurt Brouwer August 12th, 2009
It is no surprise that Congress has managed to irritate almost every American on one topic or another. After all, that’s the nature of being the nation’s legislative body.
But, this Congress seems to be both remarkably corrupt and equally tone deaf. In fact, it seems determined to alienate Americans of all stripes and persuasions.
As a result, Congress’ has achieved an unbelievably unfavorable rating in every poll I’ve seen. Here are the details and the average for six polls as shown on the excellent Real Clear Politics site:
Poll
Date
Approve
Disapprove
Spread
Source: Real Clear Politics
These six polls, done in the month of July, show that the average net approval/disapproval rating for Congress is -30.2. Roughly twice as many Americans disapprove as approve of Congress.
A more recent poll by Rasmussen Reports is even more harsh. Rasmussen polls likely voters while other companies may poll registered voters or even just adults. Typically, polling those who are likely to vote leads to more accurate results [emphasis added]:
Congressional Performance (Rasmussen Reports, August 7, 2009)
Just 14% of likely voters give Congress good or excellent ratings this month, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
This 14% is made up of 4% who rate Congress as excellent and 10% as good.
…Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters say Congress is doing a poor job, up nine points since June and the highest level found since October 7, 2008.
Another 28% of those polled rated Congress as fair. So, we have 14% rating it as good / excellent and 84% as fair / poor.
Rasmussen continues:
Democratic voters are fairly evenly divided on the question, with 27% who give the legislature good or excellent ratings and 31% who say members of Congress are doing a poor job. Most Republicans (74%) and unaffiliated voters (70%) give Congress poor ratings.
…Thirty-nine percent (39%) of voters believe most members of Congress are corrupt, while 36% disagree.
Only 14% believe most members of Congress are genuinely interested in helping people, while 75% say they are more interested in furthering their own political careers. Those results show little change from June…
Quite amazing results in that more folks believe Congress is corrupt than believe it is not corrupt. And, 75% think our Congressional leaders are not interested in helping people, but rather in furthering their own careers. This may seem cynical, but it is certainly understandable when you consider some of Congress’ recent antics:
I suspect Americans are beginning to think it’s time to trade this Congress in for a new one. The 2010 election should be very interesting.
And the hits from Congress just keep coming. I could go on…and on…and on, but I won’t.
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[…] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIt is no surprise that Congress has managed to irritate almost every American on one topic or another. After all, hat's the nature of being the nation's legislative body. But, this Congress seems to be both remarkably corrupt and equally tone deaf. In fact, it seems determined to alienate Americans of all stripes and persuasions. As a result, Congress' has achieved an unbelievably unfavorable rating in every poll I've seen. Here are the details and the average for six polls as shown on th […]
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