Congressional approval rating lower than Bush's

[scaeagles]

Ap Poll

This is really not intended to say neener, it's an observation about what happens when politicians try to move to the middle.

Dem support came largely (but not only) from an anti war sentiment during this last election. They aren't making progress on stopping it, and are getting opposition from many of their most ardent supporters (for example Cindy Sheehan says she may run against Pelosi).

Similarly, Bush has such low ratings because he isn't satisfying his base in many ways.

It is rare that moving to the middle satisfies anyone. I believe that compromise on many issues simply doesn't work and that it should be one way or the other, either of which has a better opportunity to succeed than a combination of the two.

I don't really know where I am going with this....there isn't a politician out there who is a great uniter, and I don't even know if it is possible.

[innerSpaceman]

Compromise may not positively efffect poll numbers ... but "one way or the other" is not something likely to happen in Congress. Even when Republicans or Democrats have had "control" of one house or the other, they have rarely had veto-proof or fillibuster-proof levels of control.

So the American people may poll one way ... but they vote another. They vote to keep compromise the only likely way of passing legislation. Even as one who'd like things one way rather than the other, I have to applaud the result of not letting either "side" run tyrannical over large swarths of the American population - - even that swarth that I disagree vehemently with.



The president is a different story. His administration does not have to compromise on matter of foreign policy. The Bush administration not only can, but HAS run tryannical - in both foreign policy and domestic security policy.

As we will see in the next presidential election, his nasty poll numbers will more match up with the way people vote than do the poll numbers for Congress.


So, um ... neener.

[Tom]

Congressional poll ratings often run to the low end - I have rarely, if ever, seen a Congress with over 50% approval, and they are frequently down in the thirties. It's not really a surprise. Everyone dislikes Congress. Though, when asked, most people also say that their particular Congressman does a good job and deserves to be reelected.

Someone once said that you don't want to know too much about how your sausages are made or how your laws are passed (or something to that effect).

[Morrigoon]

You won't hear me say that about my congressman. Heh.

[sleepyjeff]

Originally Posted by Morrigoon

You won't hear me say that about my congressman. Heh.

Nor mine....

[Tref]

Deservingly so ...

We need politicians who are not afraid of polls, like Bush!

If Congress were to follow Bush's lead and just act, even if it means being unpopular, so long as its for the common good, the polls will eventually come around.

[alphabassettgrrl]

My congressman does not represent me in the slightest and he doesn't care. I've written him about my concerns on various issues and he sends me form letters saying thanks but we disagree and I'll vote however I damn well please.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by alphabassettgrrl

My congressman does not represent me in the slightest and he doesn't care. I've written him about my concerns on various issues and he sends me form letters saying thanks but we disagree and I'll vote however I damn well please.

Such is the nature of a representative republic. We do not live in a democracy.

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by Tref

Deservingly so ...

We need politicians who are not afraid of polls, like Bush!

If Congress were to follow Bush's lead and just act, even if it means being unpopular, so long as its for the common good, the polls will eventually come around.

Since when has Bush acted for the common good?

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

... We do not live in a democracy.

WRONG! The United States is a Democratic Republic. Our representatives are elected democratically. The terms "democracy" and "republic" are not mutualy exclusive.

From Merriam-Webster:

Pronunciation: di-'mä-kr&-sE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -cies
Etymology: Middle French democratie, from Late Latin democratia, from Greek dEmokratia, from dEmos + -kratia -cracy
1 a : government by the people; especially : rule of the majority b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections
2 : a political unit that has a democratic government
3 capitalized : the principles and policies of the Democratic party in the United States <from emancipation Republicanism to New Deal Democracy -- C. M. Roberts>
4 : the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority
5 : the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges

Pronunciation: ri-'p&-blik
Function: noun
Etymology: French république, from Middle French republique, from Latin respublica, from res thing, wealth + publica, feminine of publicus public -- more at REAL, PUBLIC
1 a (1) : a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government b (1) : a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government c : a usually specified republican government of a political unit <the French Fourth Republic>
2 : a body of persons freely engaged in a specified activity <the republic of letters>
3 : a constituent political and territorial unit of the former nations of Czechoslovakia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or Yugoslavia

This "America is not a democracy" sound bite is relatively recent rhetoric - put forward by the right to further their own agenda. None of our Founding Fathers would have stood still for such rubbish.