No One Likes Congress
May 15th, 2008 at 01:42am Mark Noonan
Which is entirely understandable - the kook left is dissatisfied with the Democrats’ failure to lose the war, while conservatives are dissatisfied with Congress for being, well, Congress:
WASHINGTON, May 14 (UPI) — The approval rating of the U.S. Congress dropped to near-record levels and is lower than U.S. President George Bush’s mark, a Gallup poll indicates.
The telephone survey of 1,017 U.S. adults indicates 18 percent of those interviewed May 8-11 approve of the current Congress. The score matches record lows from similar Gallup polls in August 2007 and March 1992.
Gallup said Wednesday the reason for the low approval rating is because “rank-and-file Democrats are providing no support cushion for the Democratic-controlled institution.”
How this will play out in November remains to be seen - Democrats are patting themselves on the back for their off-year special election victories, and Republicans are wringing their hands over same…but with Congress this unpopular, what we might be seeing is more of a “throw the bums out” mentality rather than any real desire for more of the same. From my personal observations, people seem in a pretty foul temper about politics - which might result in voter apathy in November, or a surge of voters going to the poll in a bloody minded mood towards anyone who is in any way, shape or form connected in the public mind with business as usual. This would mean that anyone who can position himself as the outsider will do better…and in the McCain/Obama match up, I think that McCain - who is in the public mind as a critic of business as usual - might be able to one-up Obama on this sentiment.
Meanwhile, the nation is actually in good shape and we’re winning the war - so I think that the real source of the anger is the way politics has been conducted, and in this the Democrats are 99.99% at fault…by embracing the hate-filled, anti-American kook left, they allowed leftist political poison to work its way deep into the American body politic, and its got everyone feeling nasty. Hopefully, the long term effects of this will be a generalised rejection of the left - but only time will tell on that.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Congress, Democrats, Republicans
11 Comments
1. Freedom1 | May 15th, 2008 at 3:30 am
The Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid Democrat-controlled Congress has an atrocious 18% approval rating. The traitorous, pro-socialist Democrats suck.
We are winning the war in Iraq and the Iraqis are quickly getting to the point where they will be able to defend and support themselves. Bravo President Bush and the Republicans who supported this war to free 25 million people from the bloody tyranny of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime.
Now for some bipartisan criticism: Congress sucks. Democrats. Republicans. Independents. All of them. They are short-sighted and largely incompetent. America needs actual LEADERS, not pathetic politicians whose sole goal is to get re-elected.
America needs Congressional leaders who will:
1) Immediately begin a nationwide Manhattan Project to develop alternative energy sources to get America off foreign oil. Short term: Drill for oil in ANWR, off the West and East coasts and in the gulf of Mexico. Long term: Use clean-coal technology to power our cars. Build nuclear power plants to power electric cars, etc. Develop solar power and wind power. Develop non-edible biofuels (ie switchgrass, algae - NOT corn). Develop hydrogen fuel cell cars.
2) Secure the border.
3) Make English America’s official language.
4) Outlaw Islam in America.
5) From Newt.org: “We must defend America and our allies from those who would destroy us.” Opponents: “First, we have two immediate opponents, the Irreconcilable Wing of Islam and the rogue dictatorships that empower the radical Islamists….Because this war is at its core an ideological war, it is most accurate to think of and identify this war against the Irreconcilable Wing of Islam as the “Long War”. It is stunningly hard to win a war of ideology where the enemy is religiously motivated to kill us. [...] Second, we must contain powers that could threaten us, including China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan—all of which have weapons of mass destruction.
6) Health care - Again from Newt.org’s site: “Create information-rich health savings accounts to both incentivize and empower the individual.” See other 8 Strategies.
7) Fix Social Security and Medicare by using American capitalism, entrepreneurship and creativity. Stop stalling, Congress! Get it done!
2. Oceandeep | May 15th, 2008 at 9:01 am
With each election, the failure of the conservative legacy in Congress, a legacy of failure which had been in power since 1992 and up until 2006 is shown the door. Change will not come over night, but Americans are starting to take back their government as noted once again with the most recent special election in Mississippi.
Democrat Travis Childers defeated Republican Greg Davis on Tuesday in a Mississippi district that hasn’t voted Democratic in more than 15 years, one where George W. Bush defeated John Kerry by 25 points in 2004.
3. Oceandeep | May 15th, 2008 at 9:13 am
1. Freedom1 | May 15th, 2008 at 3:30 am
4) Outlaw Islam in America.
Why stop there, why not outlaw Jews, Mormans, Catholics, Blacks, Hispanics and anyone who refuses to wear a gun?
1’s post is a good example of the conservative agenda with its cozy evangilical relationship, for pure polictical purposes is being eaten from within.
4. HayHey | May 15th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Why didn’t the Republicans fix all these issues when they were in control of Congress?
5. HayHey | May 15th, 2008 at 9:19 am
“4) Outlaw Islam in America”
I hope McSame makes that his campaign slogan.
6. Danish Artist | May 15th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Republicans began to act like liberal Democrats, which caused their downfall. The victories experienced by the Democrats are those candidates are more to the center and not the left wing that is in control of their party.
They began to spend like liberals, expand the power of government like liberals, get involved in scandal like liberals, etc. etc..
Liberals are celebrating the downfall of the Republicans because they are acting like themselves. Wow, talking points blind the power of observation.
Keep chearing liberals, you may be in for a rude awakening.
7. HayHey | May 15th, 2008 at 9:28 am
“get involved in scandal like liberals, etc. etc..”
Scandals like liberals? I think you Repugs have got the solid lead in the scandal category. They are dropping like flys….
Danish Artist, I don’t think you’ve made one post without using your talking points defense. Sad.
8. William Teach | May 15th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Well, someone has got to say it for the liberals who are still waking up from their seething induced hangovers:
Everyone needs some humor in their day.
9. kritter | May 15th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Danish artist……Gee was Watergate a Democratic scandal? What about Iran-Contra? Oh, I get it. Reagan was a liberal.
Why not mention the fact that Bush inherited a healthy budget surplus from President Clinton- (who also cut Welfare) which he quickly turned into a deficit, so that he could pander to Seniors and the pharmeceutical companies, and to those in the highest tax brackets.
10. Greg-O | May 15th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Oceandeep wrote: Democrat Travis Childers defeated Republican Greg Davis on Tuesday in a Mississippi district that hasn’t voted Democratic in more than 15 years, one where George W. Bush defeated John Kerry by 25 points in 2004.
Omitted from this was that Childers ran on a pro-life, pro-gun conservative platform and actively denied any allegiances to Barack Obama. Same with Don Cazayoux here in Louisiana. If they turn out to be actual conservatives, I’m not sure how that means anything except perhaps a revival of the Democratic Party that Ronald Reagan and Zell Miller once knew.
11. Mark Noonan | May 16th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Greg-O,
It is a bit of a dirty trick Democratic leaders are using - running conservatives in conservative districts in order to secure a “D”…problem is, they might succeed too well at this and find that in January even if they’ve got a Democrat majority, conservatives rule the roost…it happened in 1980, and it can happen again.