Two facts about the new Gallup poll that reveals Congress’s current approval rating:
#1. It is at 10% a new low. It’s so far down in the polls that it’s too low for sniffing dogs.
#2. Neither party should be happy. The poll finds that many voters detest the job BOTH rpt B-O-T-H parties are doing.
Details:
PRINCETON, NJ — A record-low 10% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, down from 13% in January and the previous low of 11%, recorded in December 2011. Eighty-six percent disapprove of Congress, tying the record high for disapproval set in December.
The graph looks like Congress is doing a Titanic imitation:
AND:
The new-low 10% approval rating is based on a Gallup survey conducted Feb. 2-5, about two weeks after President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address and the reconvening of the U.S. House and Senate.
Congressional approval averaged 17% for all of 2011. The highest reading last year was 24% in May. More broadly, Gallup’s highest approval rating for Congress is 84% in October 2001, a month after the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.
It is difficult to pinpoint any specific recent actions that may have led to the continuing deterioration in Congress’ image, particularly because much of the political attention in January and early February has focused on the Republican presidential race. Congress at this point is again wrangling over the extension of the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits — both of which were temporarily extended late last year in a short-term fix that expires at the end of February. It is notable that President Obama has continued to make criticism of Congress a part of his broad presidential re-election strategy.
Congress’ current low ratings continue a generally negative trend. The 17% annual average for 2011 is by one percentage point the lowest yearly average Gallup has recorded. More broadly, the average congressional job approval rating since 1974 is 34%, signifying the generally poor esteem in which the American people have held Congress over the past decades.
Meanwhile, both parties are unloved:
Democrats’ and Republicans’ approval of Congress are equally low, at 11% and 12%, respectively, while 8% of independents approve.
Your tax dollars at work…
What does this mean in political terms?
President Barack Obama could take a calculated risk and make a good chunk of his campaign running against Congress, and try to differentiate between members of his party in his Congress (arguing they were checkmated in helping him get measures in place) and Republicans (portrayed as the obstructionists). With numbers like this its clear Obama could run a kind of Trumanesque campaign, but he’ll have to do it carefully or it could hurt the Dems, too
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.