Low Approval
Pollster Scott Rasmussen has new data for Napolitan News Service on how satisfied we are with our member of Congress. The short answer is…not very.
It’s been true for decades and decades that the re-election rate of members of Congress is well above 90 percent. This while at the same time, public approval of Congress as a whole is mired in the basement, along with lawyers and car salesmen. Why the disconnect? We railed about the institution as a whole not doing its job, but we approved of the person from our area, the one we may have voted for—and would therefore vote for again.
That’s why the Rasmussen numbers are interesting. His poll shows that Congress as a whole is still not well thought of…but we’re less willing to give a pass to our hometown rep.
The poll was taken Monday and Tuesday of this week, with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.1 points.
When asked, “do you approve or disapprove of the way your own representative in Congress is doing his or her job?” only a third approved, and nearly a majority disapproved.
A mere 11 percent said they strongly approve of their own member’s job performance, with 23 percent saying they somewhat approve—giving us 34 percent approval.
The largest slice, 28 percent, said they somewhat disapprove, with another 20 percent strongly disapproving—that’s 48 percent disapproval, nearly half.
There are 9 percent who do not know who their rep is…and another 9 percent who are not sure.
In a state like Iowa, with two incumbents on the ballot and two open seats, that’s a trend worth watching; and with inaction in Congress generally—mostly the fault of the Senate—it could spell trouble for the GOP to retain a majority. After all, if we don’t like what’s happening, we tend to vote for change…and maybe this time, even in our own backyards.
We asked you the same thing in today’s KXEL Poll Question of the Day, replicating the question Mr. Rasmussen asked nationally; weigh in yourself at kxel.com/poll.
