Congressional Approval Goes From Basement To ... Cellar Stairs

September 23, 2009 8:55 AM | | Comments (0)

Public disapproval of the way Congress is doing its job is a 3-1 runaway over public approval, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll taken Sept. 17-20.

Public approval of Congress stood at 22 percent, while disapproval was 66 percent, according to the poll. As bad as that may sound, it's not as bad as it has been. Last October, the same poll found public approval of Congress was 12 percent.

Despite their low opinion of how Congress is doing, people responding to the survey aren't crazy about their choices: 41 percent feel positive about the Democratic Party, which now controls both houses of Congress, and 39 percent have negative feelings. Republicans are not in a strong position to capitalize on that. Twenty-eight percent have positive feelings toward the GOP, and 43 percent are negative.

Even more unpopular is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., whose combined positive ratings ("very positive" + "somewhat positive") - 27 percent - are below her "very negative" rating alone, 33 percent. Add her "somewhat negative" rating on top of that and she's at 44 percent negative.

Still, when respondents were asked which party they wanted to control the Congress after next year's elections, a slim plurality, 43 percent, picked the Democrats, while 40 percent chose the Republicans.

When asked whether they'd vote to re-elect their current members of Congress, respondents, by 49 percent to 40 percent, said they would be inclined to try somebody new.

The poll was based on telephone interviews with 1,005 adults nationwide and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

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Categories: Wall Street Journal/NBC News

Tags: Congress, Pelosi

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