Members of Congress can see the South Pole sign now. A new poll puts Congress’ approval rating at 6 percent:
Americans are split down the middle on whether filibuster rules in the Senate are good or bad, but only 6% of Americans approve of the job Congress is currently doing.
What Americans are sure about is how they feel about Congress in general. They don’t like it, and haven’t liked it for a while. But Congress’s approval rating in this week’s Economist/YouGov Poll matches its all-time low. Just 6% approve of the way Congress is handling its job. 72% disapprove.
This poll also found interesting results on the filibuster:
Last week, nearly all Senate Democrats chose the “nuclear option” and voted to end the rule that allowed filibusters on Presidential nominations, after Republicans used the threat of a filibuster to block multiple nominations. While legislation can still be filibustered, the only nominations that can now be filibustered are for Supreme Court justices.
The Americans public, in the latest Economist/YouGov Poll, isn’t sure change is the right move. But the issue continues to be one where partisanship is the major factor determining opinion, as it has been in previous polls.
36% of the public would approve of changing the number of votes required to break all filibusters to 51, so bills could pass by a simple majority; 37% disapprove. >
Americans are similarly split when asked whether the filibuster is a good or bad rule in general.
But independents divide evenly when asked whether the filibuster rule, requiring 60 votes to end debate on legislation, is a good idea or a bad idea in general, with 37% calling it a bad idea, and 38% thinking it’s a good one.
At the risk of having the False Political Equivency Police (staffed by members of both parties) issue a warrant for my arrest, this number points out an important fact.
“Independent voters” is NOT a monolithic group. All independent voters do NOT lean in one direction.
All moderates don’t lean in one direction.
So the constant must-be-deleted-within-seconds emails TMV gets about “how can you call yourself a moderate,” or “how can you call yourself an independent,” or the favorite “that article isn’t bipartisan but takes a position in favor of…” are — to use Mr. Biden’s favorite word — “malarky.” Independents ARE more often than not split and leaning towards one party or another.
And who said moderates aren’t allowed to draw conclusions about parties or candidates or that someone who doesn’t sound like a CSPAN host can’t be a moderate or independent?
My favorite email was one that said how can you be a moderate “and not hate what this Marxist in the White House is doing” or the one that said how you you be a moderate and not get the truth out about Obama’s birth in Kenya.
And my all time favorite: “How can you be a moderate? Your liberal Jewish mother should have taught you better.”
But enough of those lows.
As far as Congress is concerned, it’s falling so low in the polls it will soon have to worry about sniffing dogs. Like this:
Actually, it’s clear the American public agrees with the dog in this photo.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.