Many Don't Like Congress - Not Even Their Own Party's Leadership

YouGov
February 28, 2013, 2:00 PM GMT+0

(Week of 2/23/2013) Congressional approval has been extraordinarily low for the last few years: in this week’s Economist/YouGov Poll only 10% of Americans approve of the way Congress is handling its job. 60% disapprove.

This negative sentiment is bipartisan. Just 13% of Republicans and 14% of Democrats approve, as do only 7% of independents. All four Congressional leaders – Republican and Democrat -- get negative evaluations from the public overall. And their ratings from members of their own parties are tepid at best.

Three in ten Republicans have an unfavorable view of House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leaders Mitch McConnell. Less than half are favorable towards Boehner, and just 35% are favorable towards McConnell.

22% of Democrats dislike Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Somewhat fewer - 16% - have an unfavorable view of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi gets favorable ratings from two out of three Democrats (making her the most popular of all C'ongressional leaders within her own party); Reid only can get 47% of Democrats to like him.

In contrast, while President Barack Obama’s approval rating remains under 50%, he does somewhat better than the Congressional leadership when it comes to general favorability. Just over half the country thinks positively of Obama; 40% do not.

When it comes to the President's approval rating, in this week's poll 47% approve; 44% do not.

Economist/YouGov poll archives can be found here

Photo source: Press Association