In the same poll: Voters trust Hillary Clinton on Benghazi more than congressional Republicans by a 10 point margin; a net +18 percent of respondents would rather congress focus on immigration reform than Benghazi; and voters were split 45/45 on whether Benghazi is more or less of a scandal than Watergate (although that broke down mostly on partisan lines).
Recently, Public Policy Polling sought to discover just how low the public’s opinion of Congress had fallen, testing the popularity of the U.S. Congress against twenty-six different, typically unpopular things. We all know that the American people have a less-than-favorable opinion of Congress (9% favorable and 85% unfavorable), but damn. The results weren’t pretty.
Here’s the outcome of PPP’s survey, in a handy illustrated form, from most to least popular thing:
#1:
vs.
When presented with a choice between Congress or Brussels sprouts, respondents gave a higher favorable rating to Brussels sprouts (69%) versus Congress (23%). [more]
Be sure to check out Meg’s full list, which is freaking awesome.
The pollsters, by asking the question, and news outlets, by gleefully publicizing the results, are playing into this vicious cycle.The Atlantic’s David Graham • Scoring a solid point regarding Public Policy Polling’s recent Obama religion question, which showed that (in Alabama and Mississippi) many think Obama is a Muslim. “Besides, there’s a difference between asking whether respondents believe in interracial marriage (which PPP also did) and asking whether they believe the president is a Muslim or Kenyan,” Graham continues. “The first is a matter of opinion; the second is objectively either true or false (as it happens, both are false).” He notes that most politicians have moved on from this question, except for a few that use it to score cheap political points. We’re with him. Let’s take Obama religion polling questions off the table for good.
That pendulum always swings: Count us amongst those who were skeptical about the emphasis put on the Republican wave that rolled into Congress last year, at least from a big picture, long-term standpoint — these two parties have been losing and gaining back ground for decades. Just as Barack Obama’s election caused media personalities to jump the gun in declaring the Republican Party dead in the water, so too have they rushed to heap dirt on the Democrats since the 2010 elections. Rest assured, if somebody strenuously tells you either liberalism or conservatism is dead, they may be taking an overly simplistic view of chaotic, real world political events. source
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