TPM Election Central | Talking Points Memo | Poll: More Republicans Than Democrats Approve Of Congress

I don't think this is curious at all. What has Congress done about the overriding issue from the last election - Iraq? Why shouldn't more Republican voters approve of this than the Democrats who actually elected those clowns?

Posted by MarcNYC
September 20, 2007 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink

That's a very revealing poll.

I love how all the Republicans are saying, "Oh, well, Congress has the lowest approval rating ever, so everyone hates the Democrats and thinks they're doing an awful job, which means we're going to win back the majority and the presidency, next year. Ha ha!"

This totally turns this assumption on it's head.

True, Republicans might be slightly more approving of Congress because they are giving Bush exactly what he wants, but remember that a small number of Republicans jumped ship and voted Democratic last year, so a significant amount of Republicans could have a negative view of Congress because the Republicans in Congress are blocking progress.

I'm looking at the poll and can't find any further questions or cross tabs about why people disapprove of Congress.

This is something that should be explicitly asked in every poll about a positive/negative view of Congress. People like or dislike Congress for different reasons. I'll be if you asked "Why do you disapprove of the job Congress is doing?" the overwhelming majority of people would say that either because the Republicans were blocking progress, or the Democrats weren't standing up enough to Bush. Both answers would speak volumes about the overall negative attitude towards Bush and the Republican party in general in this country.

Posted by Noah
September 20, 2007 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink

That's a very revealing poll.

I love how all the Republicans are saying, "Oh, well, Congress has the lowest approval rating ever, so everyone hates the Democrats and thinks they're doing an awful job, which means we're going to win back the majority and the presidency, next year. Ha ha!"

This totally turns this assumption on it's head.

True, Republicans might be slightly more approving of Congress because they are giving Bush exactly what he wants, but remember that a small number of Republicans jumped ship and voted Democratic last year, so a significant amount of Republicans could have a negative view of Congress because the Republicans in Congress are blocking progress.

I'm looking at the poll and can't find any further questions or cross tabs about why people disapprove of Congress.

This is something that should be explicitly asked in every poll about a positive/negative view of Congress. People like or dislike Congress for different reasons. I'll be if you asked "Why do you disapprove of the job Congress is doing?" the overwhelming majority of people would say that either because the Republicans were blocking progress, or the Democrats weren't standing up enough to Bush. Both answers would speak volumes about the overall negative attitude towards Bush and the Republican party in general in this country.

Posted by Noah
September 20, 2007 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink

"So what do Republicans really have to complain about?"

They can always complain that the Dems aren't being Republican enough.

Posted by David
September 20, 2007 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink

Keep in mind it's not just Dems who are disgusted with Congress, indies are even more disgusted. They dropped from 17 to 14%.

Posted by markg8
September 20, 2007 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink

Yeah, because Democrats have redefined the word "supine". They have squandered their victory in 2006 and have given the Boy-King everything he wanted. What are they afraid of? Fox News?

Posted by jeffgee
September 20, 2007 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink

Yes, the Republicans still control Congress, no matter what the numbers dictate!

And clearly, Nancy Pelosi is a pathetic hack. This should have been obvious to anyone once she made that ridiculous deal not file any ethics complaints against Republicans, no matter how many pages they fondled.

She should be running a charm school, not the U.S. House of Representatives.

Posted by Bill in Chicago
September 20, 2007 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink

Noah makes a good comment. Why hasn't any poll (that I've seen) asked people who disapprove WHY they disapprove, and see if this hypothesis is correct? That would be extremely useful information.

Posted by Tom in Houston
September 20, 2007 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink

Well, DUH!!! Congressional Republicans have done a great job of obstructing the Democrats while still pushing through their own legislation. Are these poll results really so difficult to figure out?

Posted by Mark F
September 20, 2007 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink

Congressional Democrats are paraphrasing Cleopatra's words to Marc Anthony:

We are not prone to argue.

Posted by Duncan Idaho
September 20, 2007 5:25 PM | Reply | Permalink

Single approval ratings for Congress seem pointless because of the partisan nature of both Congress and the poll respondent. With a polity evenly split on partisan lines a 50% public approval rating should be 100% approval by one party and 0% by the other.
Glenn Greenwald has the best must-read on whole matter- its a huge talking point for the wing nuts and real reason for the low Congressional approval rating is that fact a whole lot of Dems are really pissed of at the Dems in Congress.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/08/21/congress/

Posted by Edward R
September 20, 2007 5:32 PM | Reply | Permalink

I also think it's a silly poll question. Or it's really two poll question combined into one. If you ask Republicans what they think of congress, they will tel you how they feel about the Republicans in congress. and right now the republicans in Congress are doing a great job at stopping the Democrats from doing anything. If you ask a Democrat how they feel about congress, they will tell you what they think of the abysmal failure of the democrats to get anything done. If the approval for congress were at 50%, it could be because Repswere 90% happy and Dems were 10% happy.

Posted by David
September 20, 2007 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink

"If the fans don't come out to the ball park, you can't stop them." - Yogi Berra

Yogi always did have a way with words.

Republicans can't stop Democrats from not funding the occupation. The Democrats choose to give the president a blank check no matter how often Chris Matthews and Tim Russert lie and tell you different.

Best, Terry

Posted by terry hallinan
September 20, 2007 6:34 PM | Reply | Permalink

The pool says nothing about the Rethug (to use a Bush made up word)obstructification.That`s the primary reason for the "DO NOTHING" accomplishments of this Congress.

Posted by Sully18
September 20, 2007 9:17 PM | Reply | Permalink

well if the democrats still give blank checks to Bush, then why do we need them....

Posted by Casseeyy
September 21, 2007 12:09 PM | Reply | Permalink

Obviously those numbers reflect approval for GOP obstructionism. If Reid would merely let them filibuster - for real - I believe the numbers would reverse dramatically.

Posted by Candyce
September 21, 2007 7:03 PM | Reply | Permalink

The Democratic party is a bunch of Clowns
pretending to be a political party.

Posted by The truth Speaker
September 21, 2007 7:54 PM | Reply | Permalink

Republicans are the ultra wealthy band the dumb!

Posted by Doug Schofield
September 21, 2007 8:08 PM | Reply | Permalink

The Dems are holding the safety net for the Repubs; they do so by choice and that is why their base is furious. They want to sit out the last round before the 2008 elections and have lost their credibility.

They fold to any demand and by not forcing the Repubs to filibuster most people do not understand what is happening while the Repub base is getting what it wants.

Does Pelosi know how to bake cookies?

Posted by Druthers
September 22, 2007 5:49 AM | Reply | Permalink

The polls reflect that we now have a 1.3-party system, with Republicans, and Republican Lites.

Posted by jeff hersh
September 22, 2007 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink

I too have continued to wonder why the polling organizations don't ask the person contacted a follow-up question about WHY he or she disapproves of Congress. The question I would ask is "Do you feel Congress should be MORE or LESS willing to go along with President Bush's policies?" Maybe a question like "Why do you think so poorly of Congress' performance?" is too open ended and the responses wouldn't fit easily enough into a limited number of categories.

Posted by Brian Mac
September 22, 2007 11:41 AM | Reply | Permalink

NOT curious at all. Democrats are hungry to see a Congress that'll take aim at the White House and light 'em up.

Posted by Maezeppa
September 22, 2007 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink

runescape money runescape gold runescape money runescape gold wow power leveling wow powerleveling Warcraft Power Leveling Warcraft PowerLeveling buy runescape gold buy runescape money runescape items runescape gold runescape accounts runescape gp dofus kamas buy dofus kamas Guild Wars Gold buy Guild Wars Gold runescape accounts buy runescape accounts runescape lotro gold buy lotro gold lotro gold buy lotro gold lotro gold buy lotro gold lotro gold buy lotro gold runescape money runescape power leveling runescape money runescape gold dofus kamas cheap runescape money cheap runescape gold Hellgate Palladium Hellgate London Palladium Hellgate money Tabula Rasa gold tabula rasa money lotro gold
buy lotro gold Tabula Rasa Credit
Tabula Rasa Credits
eve">eve">http://www.vgoldseller.com/eve-online-c-892.html">eve isk
eve">eve">http://www.vgoldseller.com/eve-online-c-892.html">eve online isk
eve">eve">http://www.vgoldsupply.com/eve-online-c-1191.html">eve isk
eve">eve">http://www.vgoldsupply.com/eve-online-c-1191.html">eve online isk