We Hate Congress More than Bush? Not exactly.

So a new Gallup poll was released yesterday and it said some things that didn't really surprise me:

According to the May 10-13, 2007, Gallup Poll, 29% of Americans approve and 64% disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job. Congressional approval is down 4 percentage points since last month, and is 3 points lower than the 32% average measured during the first five months of the year. The high point for the congressional approval rating so far this year was the 37% approval measured in February. Although ratings are quite low, Americans have been more positive in their assessments of Congress this year than last year, when an average of just 25% approved of Congress.

Even though Democrats now control both houses of Congress, the poll shows that only 37% of Democrats approve of the job Congress is doing right now.

The percentage for Democrats is telling. It just doesn't tell enough. Of course we don't approve of the job Congress is doing! The truly sad thing about this poll is that it says nothing about the reasons why we disapprove. Based on the admittedly unscientific polling I've done amongst the Democrats of South Jersey, Congress is in hot water with us because they just haven't done enough.

• We're still in Iraq.
• The President, his Attorney General, and a variety of other miscreants remain in place.
• Habeas corpus is still suspended.
• Guantanamo Bay remains open for business.
  

Not approve? Hell, we're actually kind of pissed off.

The poll doesn't say why we disapprove of "our" Congress and that's bad for a couple of reasons. It gives hope to our Republican pals. They are already cautiously spinning this as the start of their comeback. That's annoying, but really not a big deal, I guess. The Democratic party isn't allowing the Republicans to set its agenda for it as much as it used to.

What could be a big deal though, is the wiggle room statistics like this give Democrats like Rahm Emanuel and his DLC cohorts. They will try to use these numbers to claim that Democrats must trend to the Right. Based on past experience, they could succeed in framing the debate and further shifting the party toward Republican Lite.

It's important that we let people know what it is we don't like. Here are some people to contact. Let your representatives know why you don't approve of how they're operating and what they need to do to make you happy. If you have a senator or congressman who doesn't represent you, let the DLC, the DCCC and/or the DSCC know what you want to see in a candidate. It's never too soon.

Your congressman and senators
the Democratic National Committee
the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee