There are some interesting results posted at WashingtonPost.com for the results of an August 9, 2011, poll.
(Found at American.com which highlighted the poll result showing that "77 percent of those asked in a new Washington Post poll agreed that 'whatever its faults, the United States still has the best system of government in the world.' " Yeah, it's hard to disagree with that statement, but an astonishing 21% did.)
But let's focus on Congress. Number 15 asks:
15. On another subject: Thinking about the next election in November 2012, right now, are you inclined to vote to re-elect your representative in Congress, or are you inclined to look around for someone else to vote for?
The results go back to 1989, and you can see the whole thing at WashingtonPost.com. But let's pick three points, 8/9/11, 10/28/10, and 11/6/94. Those dates would represent the date of the recent poll, the poll closest to the 2010 election, and the poll closest to the 1994 election. Recall that in both 2010 and 1994 the Republicans swept out many Democrats to take a majority of the House of Representatives. So here's what the WaPo poll shows.
| Date | Re-elect | Look around | Depends | no opinion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/9/11 RV | 18 | 67 | 7 | 7 |
| 10/28/10 RV | 35 | 52 | 7 | 6 |
| 11/6/94 RV | 37 | 47 | 7 | 8 |
"RV" stands for "Registered Voter."
Congress isn't looking that good to Americans these days. Rasmussen's results concur with 66% saying Congress is doing a poor job.
Congressional incumbents have always had the wind at their backs when facing a challenger. But with 67% of registered voters saying they would "look around" -- the highest in the poll's history -- maybe this next Congressional election really will be different.
Oh, by the way. Obama isn't looking that good in the polls either.
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