I need some help understanding the low Congress approval.

[leftist.]

It's hard to believe it's actually that low, but the fact remains that it is low whether it's at 11% or 22%. Republicans have seized on "they were bashing Petraeus" as the reason why Congress's approval is at 11%, but I don't believe that's the case. When "they" do approval polls such as this one, are there follow-ups built in to allow for an understanding as to why approval is so low? To my mind it's because Congress hasn't done anything to stem this very unpopular war, but it could be for other reasons such as general disapproval of government, disgust with hidden inflation and high gas prices, or that people are in fact put off by Congress's treatment of General Petraeus.

Does anyone have any insight into these low numbers that isn't just conjecture?

Thanks!

[goodhue]

1. Because Congress continues to fund the war

[Trisket-Bisket]

2. Congress

Its 12 years of Republican controll. Most people have no idea who Pretraus is.

[Old and In the Way]

3. Notice they don't differentiate by Party affiliation?

"Congress" is an obscuring term that serves the corporate media's purpose of blurring the distinction between parties. They don't seem interested in knowing which Party is the source of voter frustration. Both Democrats and Republicans can agree that Congress sucks....but for very different reasons. I know I am unhappy with Democrats capitulation on important issues...but I am still motivated to see more Democrats in Congress to overcome the clearly obstructionist, anti-middle class agenda of today's Republican.

[hobbit709]

4. They continue to rubberstamp idiot son's policies

They continue to allow the hijacking of the Constitution
They continue to do nothing while Rome burns
They continue to listen to big money instead of the people they are supposed to represent

And they had low numbers before the Betrayus ad. That's just more RW spin.

[Enrique]

6. you might be interested in this

http://fe25.news.mud.yahoo.com/s/cq/20070904/pl_cq_politics/bushsuccessratingathistoriclow

President Bush’s success rating in the Democratic-controlled House has fallen this year to a half-century low, and he prevailed on only 14 percent of the 76 roll call votes on which he took a clear position.

The previous low for any president was in 1995, when Bill Clinton won just 26 percent of the time during the first year after Republicans took control of the House. If Bush’s score holds through the end of the year, he will have the lowest success rating in either chamber for any president since Congressional Quarterly began analyzing votes in 1953.

A study of House and Senate floor votes, compiled by CQ over the August recess, also showed that House Democrats have backed Bush’s legislative positions this year only 6 percent of the time, making for the strongest opposition from either party against a president in the 54 years CQ has kept score.

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. Fine.

Are we still in Iraq?
Are we still funding the war?
Are we still beating the drums against Iran?
Has Cheney been impeached for his blatant violations of the law?

It's all fine and well to block a bridge to nowhere, but that's no more than we expect of any congress -- THIS congress was elected to STOP BUSHCO.

When is it going to get to work on that?

[Enrique]

9. I was surprised when I saw that study

I hadn't realized the level of opposition was so high.

I thought the OP, and others, would be interested.

[kenfrequed]

13. But you must realize

You have to realize that maybe the real reason that congress approval rating is in the dumps is because of failure to accomplish what most Americans wanted of them: namely opposition to Bush and the War in Iraq.

Many of the Dems have taken a very cautious stance on this and that is one of the reasons the public is disappointed with them.

[hobbit709]

8. Yeah, but they caved on the important stuff.

[Enrique]

10. did you know the opposition was so high?

I don't think the OP did. Whatever you say about Congress, it hasn't been a rubberstamp.

[leftist.]

16. I didn't know it was that high ...

... and your post was very helpful. What can I read from that though? Could it be that Congress just isn't getting the message out that they stand in opposition to Bush almost 100% of the time and that they really did end the "rubber stamp" congress of the republicans? Is it just that people are going through a "fed up with government" stage because of bush, iraq, and gas? Is it solely about the war?

[Enrique]

17. it's mostly about the war, imo

they made general and specific promises that they didn't deliver on.

[sampsonblk]

18. Dems were not put in the majority to 'end the rubber stamp'

The Dem party was entrusted with the task of stopping Junior. And we were given all the tools necessary to do it. And we have not. That's how you get to 11% approval.

[leftist.]

20. I believe that to be the case ...

... I just wish there were some follow up evidence in the polling that people to do to support that notion. It would at least keep the republicans from trying to spin opposition to the war as "bashing Petraeus".

[Enrique]

5. the country is in a funk

[kenfrequed]

11. The numbers

There is always a numbers lag between congress and the president. It is rare, historically, for Congress to have a higher approval rating than the president. I am not surprised that the media is fixating on this at a time when Democrats actually barely hold onto congress (so much for the liberal media-again).

What surprises me is this kind of meme floating through the media. No actual analysis to see if Petraeus is lying or juggling numbers. (he is and they did) Rather they play to Fox Noise drumbeat as has been the pattern for some time.

And of course most of the Dem Pundits allowed on television seem to be of the spineless-DLC-corporate-friendly variety. We get to see most them of them moan and wring their hands and tear their shirts from their chests and occasionally cry about how awful the net-roots and net-activists are. But mostly we get to see them agreeing with conservative commentators as though they had battered spouse syndrome.

[Vickers]

12. People look at Congress as a group and think they are shit, but many

people *like* their own congressional reps.

The irony is breathtaking.

Voters continue to send their good buddies up that comprise a bad gang collectively.

[Froward69]

14. Most americans have a short

Political memory. Nixon was a lesson but America elected Regan. the traitorous republicans seized on that and after Hypocritically denouncing Clinton got bush elected.
Now after electing congress to be mostly Democrat.(2006) The frustration lies in ending this Iraq mess. The senate Knows just how disastrous the action of cutting off funding really is. The last time it was done was Vietnam. Most Americans have forgotten that mess. today most want to cut off funds to Iraq. Congress will not even try. Chiefly because of the republican backlash of "not supporting the troops" Coupled with the resulting Disaster of the last time, Vietnam.
most Americans have that short memory, the problem lies with "most" is the majority. it is a rock and a hard place.

I do not criticize the congress. if they had the votes they could be more assertive with bush, and end the mess in Iraq sooner. really we have to wait for an election or two to have the power to get our country out of Iraq, and back on track to actually hunting osama. Along with the economy and everything else the republicans have fucked up.

[Kelly Rupert]

15. Okay, here's the deal, for real.

Obviously, it's hard to break things apart in these issue polls, because there are simply so many factors to consider. However, the biggest reason right now is simply partisanship. And by that, I'm not taking the Holy Joe "oh, if we all just got along and compromised people would be happy," because that's the opposite of the problem--the problem is that America is ridiculously polarized, not Congress.

The issues we're facing are, in many ways, black and white. Either you believe that we need to commit fully to "winning" Iraq, or you believe we need to get the hell out. Either you believe the markets should take care of health, or you believe government needs to regulate it. Either you believe the government can detain people indefinitely to fight terrorism, or you believe civil rights are inviolate. Either you believe in raising taxes on the rich, or you believe in cutting them. People have strong opinions on the issues.

Congress, on the other hand, is a split body right now. Just over half are Democrats, just under half are Republicans. The minority party holds the Executive branch. Under this situation, you have compromise or gridlock; either party can torpedo anything it doesn't like. Now, here's the public reaction to any possible result:

COMPROMISE: "My party totally sold out! Those spineless (R/D)INOs; I can't believe they'd stab us in the back! Fuck them and fuck Congress."
GRIDLOCK: "Those bastard other guys are always obstructing progress! Fuck them and fuck Congress."

In a split government, nobody walks away happy.

[sampsonblk]

19. So wait, its all the public's fault? Uh, no.

Separating the options into two (compromise or gridlock) serves to obscure the real issue.

The Congress was given its marching orders in Nov of 2006. If our party gets off its ass and does what the public said, the approval ratings will go up. If not, then they will remain low. There is virtually no other issue of any importance other than the occupation of Iraq. Until we deal with that issue honestly and earnestly, people will continue to have no faith in our party.

The only one's who complain (or care) about gridlock as an issue are inside-the-beltway types who view passing a law as an accomplishment. Nobody else care about that. Big deal.


CBS: "What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?" .

%
War in Iraq 28
Economy/Jobs 16
Health care 8
Terrorism (general) 6
Immigration 5
Foreign policy 4
Poverty/Homelessness 3
Defense/Military 3
Misc. social issues 3
Misc. government issues 3
Other 16
Unsure 5

http://www.pollingreport.com/prioriti.htm

That's your answer. I. R. A. Q.