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U.S. public takes dim view of job Congress is doing
By Adam Nagourney and Janet Elder The New York Times
Published: September 20, 2006
NEW YORK With less than seven weeks to go until the midterm elections, Americans have a distinctly negative view of the Republican-controlled Congress, with overwhelming majorities saying they disapprove of the job it is doing and that its members do not deserve re-election this fall, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
The alienation with Congress is as intense as it has been since 1994, when Republicans swept Democrats out of control after 40 years of dominance in the House. It signals the challenge the Republican Party faces in trying hold on to power in the face of a clear surge of anti-incumbent sentiment.
Two-thirds of respondents said Congress had done less than it typically does during a congressional session. A majority said they could not name a single major accomplishment of this Congress. Just 25 percent of respondents said they approved of the way Congress was doing its job.
The Times/CBS News poll found that President George W. Bush did not improve his own or his party's standing through his intense campaign of speeches and events marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The speeches were part of an overall strategy to thrust terrorism to the front of the stage in the fall elections.
His job approval rating remains at 37 percent, virtually unchanged from the last Times/CBS News poll, and 55 percent say they approve of the way he is managing the war on terror, again unchanged from August.
But the poll found a slight increase in the percentage of Americans who say they approve of the way Bush has handled the war in Iraq, from 30 percent to 36 percent. It also suggests that after bottoming out this spring, Bush's approval rating on the economy, foreign policy and terrorism has returned the levels they were a year ago.
Across the board, the poll found marked disenchantment with Congress and signaled the potential gains the Democrats can make if they succeed - as they are trying - to turn this into a referendum on the performance of a Republican-controlled Congress and Bush's tenure as president. In one striking finding, 78 percent of voters - including 67 percent of Republicans - said most members of Congress had not done a good enough job to deserve reelection and it was time to give a new person a chance.
That is the highest number of voters who said it was "time for new people" since September of 1994.
In the poll, 50 percent of voters said they will support a Democrat in the fall congressional election, compared with 35 percent who said they would support a Republican. That said, the poll found that Democrats continue to struggle to offer a case for control of government to be turned over to them: Only 37 percent said the Democrats have a clear plan for how they would run the country, compared with 47 percent who said the Republicans had offered a clear plan. Historically, overall discontent with Congress or Washington does not signify how someone will vote when they see the familiar name of their member of Congress on the ballot in the voting booth.
In the poll, 53 percent of respondents said they approved of the job their member of Congress was doing. By contrast, 25 percent who said they approved of the job Congress overall is doing.
The poll began Friday, four days after the commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and two weeks after the White House began its offensive on security issues. The Times and CBS completed questioning Tuesday night. Presidential addresses often produce shifts in public opinion that tend to be transitory.
The nationwide telephone poll was conducted Friday through Tuesday with 1,131 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Marina Stefan, Megan Thee and Marjorie Connelly contributed reporting for this article.
NEW YORK With less than seven weeks to go until the midterm elections, Americans have a distinctly negative view of the Republican-controlled Congress, with overwhelming majorities saying they disapprove of the job it is doing and that its members do not deserve re-election this fall, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
The alienation with Congress is as intense as it has been since 1994, when Republicans swept Democrats out of control after 40 years of dominance in the House.
...........
The Times/CBS News poll found that President George W. Bush did not improve his own or his party's standing through his intense campaign of speeches and events marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
.........
For full story source goto:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/20/news/poll.php
By Adam Nagourney and Janet Elder The New York Times
Published: September 20, 2006
NEW YORK With less than seven weeks to go until the midterm elections, Americans have a distinctly negative view of the Republican-controlled Congress, with overwhelming majorities saying they disapprove of the job it is doing and that its members do not deserve re-election this fall, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
The alienation with Congress is as intense as it has been since 1994, when Republicans swept Democrats out of control after 40 years of dominance in the House. It signals the challenge the Republican Party faces in trying hold on to power in the face of a clear surge of anti-incumbent sentiment.
Two-thirds of respondents said Congress had done less than it typically does during a congressional session. A majority said they could not name a single major accomplishment of this Congress. Just 25 percent of respondents said they approved of the way Congress was doing its job.
The Times/CBS News poll found that President George W. Bush did not improve his own or his party's standing through his intense campaign of speeches and events marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The speeches were part of an overall strategy to thrust terrorism to the front of the stage in the fall elections.
His job approval rating remains at 37 percent, virtually unchanged from the last Times/CBS News poll, and 55 percent say they approve of the way he is managing the war on terror, again unchanged from August.
But the poll found a slight increase in the percentage of Americans who say they approve of the way Bush has handled the war in Iraq, from 30 percent to 36 percent. It also suggests that after bottoming out this spring, Bush's approval rating on the economy, foreign policy and terrorism has returned the levels they were a year ago.
Across the board, the poll found marked disenchantment with Congress and signaled the potential gains the Democrats can make if they succeed - as they are trying - to turn this into a referendum on the performance of a Republican-controlled Congress and Bush's tenure as president. In one striking finding, 78 percent of voters - including 67 percent of Republicans - said most members of Congress had not done a good enough job to deserve reelection and it was time to give a new person a chance.
That is the highest number of voters who said it was "time for new people" since September of 1994.
In the poll, 50 percent of voters said they will support a Democrat in the fall congressional election, compared with 35 percent who said they would support a Republican. That said, the poll found that Democrats continue to struggle to offer a case for control of government to be turned over to them: Only 37 percent said the Democrats have a clear plan for how they would run the country, compared with 47 percent who said the Republicans had offered a clear plan. Historically, overall discontent with Congress or Washington does not signify how someone will vote when they see the familiar name of their member of Congress on the ballot in the voting booth.
In the poll, 53 percent of respondents said they approved of the job their member of Congress was doing. By contrast, 25 percent who said they approved of the job Congress overall is doing.
The poll began Friday, four days after the commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and two weeks after the White House began its offensive on security issues. The Times and CBS completed questioning Tuesday night. Presidential addresses often produce shifts in public opinion that tend to be transitory.
The nationwide telephone poll was conducted Friday through Tuesday with 1,131 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Marina Stefan, Megan Thee and Marjorie Connelly contributed reporting for this article.
NEW YORK With less than seven weeks to go until the midterm elections, Americans have a distinctly negative view of the Republican-controlled Congress, with overwhelming majorities saying they disapprove of the job it is doing and that its members do not deserve re-election this fall, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
The alienation with Congress is as intense as it has been since 1994, when Republicans swept Democrats out of control after 40 years of dominance in the House.
...........
The Times/CBS News poll found that President George W. Bush did not improve his own or his party's standing through his intense campaign of speeches and events marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
.........
For full story source goto:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/20/news/poll.php
