by Jack Lee
In yet another poll, sponsored by NBC and the Wall Street Journal, the approval rate by voters for Congress has dropped to 16%. This is the lowest number since this poll began 17 years ago and greatly eclipses the low Democrat poll numbers that swept Republicans into power in 1994. Some conservative news pundents have been hinting of a possible “October Surprise” that could bring about a reversal of fortunes for the beseiged GOP. Some in the know are saying, a surprise that is anything short of the capture of Osama bin Laden, probably won’t help much.
Recently Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show, the “Drive By Media” has been predicting a complete GOP rout and they are furious that President Bush discounts their predictions and has offered a prediction of his own, that it’s not that bad and the GOP will hold on to both houses. This is driving the media wild with rage, says Rush and he went on to advise us, either Bush and his advisers are totally out of touch and delusional or you have to believe the media is so biased they are just not reporting the facts. That they are distorting the real story because of their own bias in an covert effort to help Democrats win the election. Here’s a poll link or read this next story on the same poll….
“WASHINGTON — With just 19 days until the midterm elections, a new poll shows both President Bush and his party in worse shape among voters than Democrats were in the October before they lost control of Capitol Hill a dozen years ago.
Support for the Republican-led Congress has eroded to its lowest point since the party’s watershed 1994 victory that brought it House and Senate majorities.
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll illustrates the political toll Republicans are paying for rising discontent over the Iraq war, as well as a spate of scandals including the disclosure that Republican House leaders knew of inappropriate emails to House pages from Florida Rep. Mark Foley, who resigned late last month. Voters’ approval of Congress has fallen to 16% from 20% since early September, while their disapproval has risen to 75% from 65%.
IN THE POLLS
Graphic: Bush’s approval ratings across multiple polls
See the full poll results. (Adobe Acrobat required)
Battlegrounds: Who’s ahead in the most hotly contested Senate and gubernatorial races? Dig into the latest Zogby poll data.
That 16% rating statistically matches Congress’s lowest point in the 17 years the Journal and NBC have polled, set in April 1992 when Democrats were in control and suffering from a scandal involving lawmakers’ overdrafts from the House bank. The latest results set other records for the Journal/NBC surveys, all ominous for Republicans — “a harbinger,” in the words of Journal/NBC pollster Peter Hart, “of what’s ahead for the incumbent party. It’s as simple as that.”