Unhappiness Among Democrats Pushes Approval Rating for Congress to New Low

During the Great Economic Meltdown of 2008, when each day brought a big new plunge in the stock market, the question on everyone's minds was "How low can it go?"

The same could have been asked the last few years about the public's opinion of Congress. Now, a new Gallup poll conducted Dec. 10-12 says that the job approval rating that Americans give their lawmakers is the worst in more than 30 years of its surveys.

Only 13 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing -- eclipsing the previous low of 14 percent in July 2008, during the brunt of the recession -- while a whopping 83 percent disapprove. The last time Congress was in positive territory by a big margin in Gallup's surveys was in 2001, when 56 percent approved of the job it was doing.

Gallup speculates that the approval numbers may have been driven down by Democrats who oppose the tax deal that President Obama negotiated with Republican leaders, or Democrats "frustrated" with lawmakers in their party who oppose the deal. (While many Democrats on Capitol Hill may not like the deal, other polls this week showed broad bipartisan support among the public at large.)

Gallup based its analysis on the fact that approval of Congress among Democrats dropped from 29 percent in November to 16 percent in the latest survey, while the disapproval rates among independents and Republicans didn't change much.

A USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Dec. 10-12, says that 40 percent of Democrats said that the amount Obama compromised on the tax cut deal was "about right," 34 percent believed it was too much and 15 percent said it was not enough, with 12 percent undecided.

A New York Times/CBS News poll conducted Oct. 21-26 among registered voters showed 76 percent disapproving of the performance of Congress while 14 percent approved. In the history of this poll, Congress has been at a 30 percent approval rate or lower since March 2009, and had edged over 20 percent only three times since January in the 11 surveys conducted this year. The last time Congress notched a 50 percent approval mark was February, 2002.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted Oct. 25-28, also among registered voters, had 74 percent disapproving of the job lawmakers were doing (with 58 percent "strongly" disapproving) while 23 percent approved. The disapproval rating for Congress was over 70 percent in each of the Post/ABC polls this year, and peaked in the last poll before the election. The last time Congress was in positive territory in this poll was 2002.

Gallup's survey sample was all adults, not just registered voters.

Despite these bleak numbers, Gallup predicted better days ahead for denizens of the Hill.

"The prospects for a recovery in Congress' approval ratings in the short term appear good, based on what Gallup has measured in the past when control of Congress changed hands," the pollster said. "Gallup documented a 10-point increase in Congress' approval rating from December 1994 to January 1995 after the Republicans officially took control of the House and Senate after the 1994 midterm elections. There was a larger 14-point increase in congressional approval ratings after the Democrats' [took] control of Congress in January 2007."

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