Poll: 20% Say Congress Doing Good or Excellent Job, 41% Say Poor

[skipos]

March 29, 2007
Twenty percent (20%) of Americans give Congress a good or excellent rating these days. The latest Rasmussen Reports survey found that 41% say the nation’s legislators are doing a fair job while 38% say poor.

Bleak as those numbers are, they represent an improvement since the Democrats have taken power. In December, just 11% gave Congress a good or excellent rating while 47% say they were doing a poor job. That was the last survey conducted while the GOP was in charge. Democrats are currently trusted more than Republicans on a variety of issues including how to handle the situation in Iraq.

Rating / current poll (previous poll)
Excellent / 3% (2%)
Good / 17% (9%)
Fair / 41% (38%)
Poor / 38% (47%)

http://rasmussenreports.com/Political%20Tracking/Issues/CongressionalRatings20070329.htm

[SteppingRazor]

1. Pretty good numbers, when looked at as percentage changes.

The number of people who said "good" has doubled, after all, and the every category other than poor has increased, while poor has dropped. Still bad numbers, but great trends.

[State the Obvious]

2. It all depends on how it is framed.

This type of poll can be taken in either of two directions.

1. The press can lump 6 years of the Republican-controlled Congress with the FIRST THREE MONTHS of the Democratically-controlled Congress and say, in general, "Congress is ineffective". (This would be the spin that the Republicans and the Republican-owned media will take.)-----0r-----

2. State the positive improvement in Congressional effectiveness in the FIRST THREE MONTHS that Democrats have been in control. Just think of what CAN BE accomplished within the next year. (This should be the Democratic Party position .....it IS getting better and that it takes more that 3 months to reverse 6 years of incompetent, deceptive, non-leadership.)

It is ALL about spin.

[AndyA]

3. Agreed. It's a well-known fact that pollsters can achieve the desired results

by making sure the question is asked in a certain way.

Rasmussen is largely right wing, so they would naturally ask questions designed to minimize any positive impact since the Dems took over.

Pretty much useless.

I think the Dems are doing much, much better than the GOP, and I still hope they're getting up to speed. Lots of hearings and investigations, something big will surely fall out of the tree soon.

[skipos]

6. Rasmussen (himself) is a Repub. Rasmussen (the pollster)

was one of the most accurate pollsters in 2006, 2005, and 2004 (if you believe the official results).

[The Magistrate]

4. These Are Pretty Good Numbers, Sir

It is rare always for people to give Congress a better than fair rating. People tend to regard Congress with a genial contempt: jokes about it were old when Mr. Twain coined several of the best ones. They rally to it only in a serious Constitutional crisis, and there is nowhere else to go....

[WI_DEM]

5. congress never gets good numbers. people may like their own congress person but overall the

institution is not liked.

[Bluestar]

7. The 38% Poor rating includes the 25% supporting the Chimp

plus the rest is made up of disgrunted Democrats, many of whom post here on DU. Many people don't understand that in a democracy the wheels of justic grind slowly.