Congressional Performance 71% Give Congress Poor Rating

Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters February 19-20, 2010 How would you rate the way Congress is doing its job?
                 Excellent       Good     Fair      Poor
                   9%                1%       18%      71%

 

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Congressional Performance 71% Give Congress Poor Rating Voter unhappiness with Congress has reached the highest level ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports as 71% now say the legislature is doing a poor job. That’s up ten points from the previous high of 61% reached a month ago. Only 10% of voters say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Nearly half of Democratic voters (48%) now give Congress a poor rating, up 17 points since January. The vast majority of Republicans and voters not affiliated with either party also give Congress poor ratings. Seventy percent (70%) of voters say Congress has not passed any legislation that would significantly improve life for Americans, up 10 points over the past month and the highest level of dissatisfaction measured in regular tracking in over three years. Only 15% say Congress has passed such legislation. Forty percent (40%) of voters nationwide now say it is at least somewhat likely Congress will seriously address the most important issues facing the nation. That’s down from 59% last March. Only 9% say it is Very Likely Congress will address these issues. These numbers are consistent with the analysis provided in Scott Rasmussen’s new book, In Search of Self-Governance. Scott notes that “Today, Americans are united. United in the belief that our political system is broken, that politicians are corrupt, and that neither major political party has the answers.” He adds, “Some of us are ready to give up; some of us are ready to scream a little louder. But all of us believe we can do better.” The book has received positive reviews from across the political spectrum. In Search of Self-Governance is available from Rasmussen Reports and at Amazon.com. Other recent polling also reflects voter disappointment in Congress. Earlier this month, 63% of voters said it would be better for the country if most incumbents in Congress were defeated this November. Just 27% of voters say their representative in Congress is the best possible person for the job. Three out of four voters (75%) report being at least somewhat angry at the policies of the federal government. Part of the frustration is likely due to the belief of 60% of voters that neither Republican political leaders nor Democratic political leaders have a good understanding of what is needed today. Still, voters believe Democrats are more likely than Republicans to have a plan for the future. Regardless of which political side voters are on, just 21% believe that the federal government enjoys the consent of the governed. As Congress continues to hash out the health care reform plan proposed by the president and Congressional Democrats, just 41% of voters favor the plan while 56% are opposed. Sixty-three percent (63%) of all voters say a better strategy to reform the health care system would be to pass smaller bills that address problems individually. Just 9% of voters believe most members of Congress are genuinely interested in helping people, which ties the recent low in December. Eighty-one percent (81%) say most members of Congress are more interested in their own careers, a new multi-year high. The plurality of voters (42%) continues to believe most members of Congress are corrupt, a result that has remained fairly consistent over the past several months. One in three U.S. voters (32%) does not see most congressmen as corrupt. Another 26% are undecided. In 2010, Republican candidates have consistently held an advantage over Democrats in the Generic Congressional Ballot. Rasmussen Reports has recently surveyed Senate races in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Florida, Connecticut, Pennyslvania, Ohio, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. Most show a troubling political environment for the Democratic candidates. Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free) or follow us on Twitter or Facebook. Let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news. This national telephone survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports February 19-20, 2010. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence (see methodology).