Americans Hate Republican And Democratic Congresscritters Pretty Much Equally
The changes on Capitol Hill have done little to change public opinion about Congress:
PRINCETON, NJ — As Congress attempts to come up with a budget agreement to avoid a government shutdown, Americans’ views of both parties in Congress are equally negative — 31% approve of the Republicans in Congress and 32% approve of the Democrats in Congress. Each party’s rating is among the lowest Gallup has found since the question was first asked in 1999.
Democrats’ 32% approval rating in the March 25-27 Gallup poll is just two percentage points above its low point, registered in December 2007. Republicans’ current rating is six points better than its low of 25% in December 2008.
Americans generally look less favorably on Congress as an institution than they do on the presidency or Supreme Court. Thus, it has been rare for a majority of Americans to approve of how the Congress, and how either party in Congress, is doing. In fact, neither party has achieved this distinction in nearly eight years.
Republicans in Congress last earned that level of support in October 2003, perhaps a lingering effect of the surge in government trust after the September 2001 terror attacks. Not since April 2002 have a majority of Americans approved of the Democrats in Congress.
Even shortly after Democrats regained majority status in Congress in early 2007, just 41% of Americans approved of the job the party was doing.
Here’s the chart:
Something tells me these numbers will decline even further if we end up seeing the government shut down.
I’m amazed that they both got over 30% approval rate – I’d have guessed both to be in the mid-teens somewhere.