A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

When the 110th Congress came storming into the American political scene, it appeared to be a worldbeater of sorts. At long last, 12 years of corrupt Republican rule had been swept away! We had the first female Speaker and a Majority Leader who got one of the Smothers Brothers to portray him on Casino. ('Tis true!) Surely, things were going to be different and this Congress was going to fulfill the hopes and wishes of all those who voted for it.

Eh . . . not so much:

Just 14% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in Congress.

This 14% Congressional confidence rating is the all-time low for this measure, which Gallup initiated in 1973.  The previous low point for Congress was 18% at several points in the period of time 1991 to 1994.

Congress is now nestled at the bottom of the list of Gallup's annual Confidence in Institutions rankings, along with HMOs.  Just 15% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in HMOs.  (By way of contrast, 69% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the military, which tops the list.  More on this at galluppoll.com on Thursday).

Now, of course, the major reason behind this drop in popularity probably has to do with the 110th Congress's failure to short-circuit the reconstruction effort in Iraq. This angered the Democratic base and caused it to turn against the very Congress that it had elected. But as I have argued in the past, the current Congressional unpopularity also has largely to do with the fact that Congress just has not governed all that well. Maybe it was just a failure to live up to all of the hype associated with the 110th Congress, but at the end of the day, their legislative accomplishments--even in the midst of the famous "100 hours"--weren't all that impressive to begin with.

And so now, it's a race to the bottom of the poll ratings, with Congress and President Bush seemingly determined to outdo one another in seeking unpopularity. President Bush is probably now used to having his ratings in the cellar. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, however, must look upon the situation with not a little bit of horror. Surely, they expected that they would be more popular than the President by now. Surely, they expected that their political fortunes would be better than this.