Dobbs falsely asserted Democratic Congress is less popular than Republican-led predecessor
During CNN's pre-debate coverage on the June 3 edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight, host Lou Dobbs noted that Congress has a "33 percent approval rating" and asserted that "this Congress [is] get[ting] hammered even more in these opinion polls than the previous Congress." Dobbs then asked: "What in the world does that say about Democratic leadership?" In fact, Congress' current approval rating in most polls is higher than that of the previous, Republican-controlled Congress, for much of its tenure, and one recent poll that broke down approval by party found that respondents approved of Democrats much more than previous samples had approved of Republicans when Republicans held the congressional majority.
While Dobbs did not say whether the 33 percent approval number he cited represented a specific poll or an average of polls, most polls show that the current (110th) Congress' approval is higher than the previous (109th) Congress' approval -- especially in the 109th Congress' second year:
The New York Times/CBS News poll's most recent congressional approval rating was 35 percent in its May 18-23 survey. That rating was higher than Congress' rating in all of the 23 samples taken during the previous Republican-controlled Congress -- except its first two samples (January 14-18, 2005 and February 24-28, 2005) and its fourth (April 13-16, 2005), which was also at 35.
The Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll's most recent congressional approval rating was 32 percent in its May 15-16 survey. That rating was higher than the previous Congress' approval rating in 12 of 15 samples. Fox News recorded a 40 percent approval rating for the 109th Congress on March 29-30, 2005, and 34 percent approval on both September 13-14, 2005, and January 24-25, 2006.
The Gallup poll's most recent congressional approval rating was 29 percent in its May 10-13 survey. That rating was higher than the previous Congress' rating in 14 of the last 18 samples taken on the 109th Congress going back to October 2005 -- and tied in the other four instances. In all, the current Congress either tied or outpolled the previous Congress 18 of the total 27 instances in which Gallup surveyed congressional approval.
University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Charles H. Franklin, past president of the Society for Political Methodology, published a chart on his weblog, Political Arithmetik, showing congressional approval from 1990 through May 23, 2007. The trend line, derived from congressional approval polls, shows Congress with a higher approval rating than it had for most of 2005 and 2006 -- and significantly higher than on Election Day, 2006:
(Click here for full-size image.)
Additionally, an April 12-15 Washington Post/ABC News poll, which recorded a 44 percent overall approval rating for Congress, showed a 54 percent approval rating for the majority "Democrats in Congress" and 39 percent approval rating for the minority "Republicans in Congress." By contrast, the majority Republicans received approval ratings of 35 (October 8, 2006), 33 (May 15, 2006), 35 (November 2, 2005), and 42 (June 5, 2006) percent in Washington Post-ABC News polls during the previous Congress. The minority Democrats received 48, 39, 41, and 42 percent approval ratings in those respective polls.
From the 6 p.m. ET hour of CNN's pre-debate coverage on the June 3 edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight:
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN (Democratic strategist): Well, what happened -- what happened, Ed, is the Bush administration didn't cut taxes for the middle class. They just passed the tax burden down to state and local governments.
DOBBS: OK, so -- so let's get -- let's get to that issue. We're looking right now at a 33 percent approval rating, now five months into a new Democratically led Congress. We are watching this Congress get hammered even more in these opinion polls than the previous Congress, which I think is historically one of the worst in terms of accomplishment -- I think. I know.
What in the world does that say about Democratic leadership? And how much is what this Congress accomplishes -- Democratically-led Congress accomplishes -- or doesn't accomplish going to play into the 2008 presidential election?
MICHAEL GOODWIN (New York Daily News columnist): Well, I think quite a bit. I think right now we have a very impatient and somewhat unhappy electorate. And I think that the Democrats, you know, basically took Congress by beating up on George Bush. And don't forget, coming down the stretch you had Republican corruption scandals -- that sort of thing. I think the Democrats, presumably at some point in the next two years will have a scandal of their own. And they can find themselves in the -- in the --
DOBBS: Now we're projecting scandals?
GOODWIN: Well, no -- no, but I think --
ED ROLLINS (Republican strategist): Always the optimist, Mike.
GOODWIN: No, but I think it's just likely. It happens in virtually every Congress sooner or later.
Sean Hannity has been slobbering over this, wondering why the media is reporting Bush's low numbers and not those of congress.
I think an interesting follow up question for the polls, in any year, would be to ask for a sppecific reason for approval or disapproval.Probably would be interesting to see if most Americans opinions are based on reality or water-cooler "dang Congress" talk.
Good points. I wonder if these dissatisfied voters would care to try to work with half a chamber of stonewalling obstructionists to get something done.
Yeah, I hate congress more than Bush
Of course you do. But do you hate your own Senators and Representative? Congress' numbers are always in the toilet, but 90% of them get reelected, time after time.
The thing I do not like is that the pundits only use this to attack the Democratic side of Congress. They seem to ignore that Dems have just a one vote majority in the Senate, which includes Joe Lieberman. So Democrats have a lot of difficulty pushing their agenda with that slim margin.
Congress is also working with a hostile President who keeps threatening to veto what they do. Dems have no "veto-proof" majority.
In other words, I think most of the current dissatisfaction with Congress has more to do with the near deadlock, not over any opposition to Democratic policies. Most people I talk to think Democrats in Congress should do more to end the war (that is their #1 complaint, even amongst many Republicans I know), but many don't realize the tiny one vote margin in the Senate, or the number of votes required to override Bush's vetoes.
The Sean Hannity's of the world will of course spin the Congressional approval numbers as somehow being positive news for the right, but I see it differently. I think the Congressional numbers show that people want Congress to oppose Bush's policies even more strongly. The people want us out of Iraq.
Dobbs says that he "thinks", then he "knows"
I wonder which way it will go
If he's shown a correction
Will he still push projections
That if it's said on his program that "it's so"
JJ: Love those limericks!
Wait until '08.....Then the Super Majority Democratic Congress will really get blasted by the TalkingHeads. It'll keep them working through 2012...And the Country will be in better shape.
Notice how the Republican Congress's approval ratings plummeted after the Iraq war, and how the trend is reverse since the Democrats took over, although if they comply with Chimpy McFlight Suit's incessant wailings for another Iraq "blank check", they, too, shall suffer for the Iraq debacle.
Stepping once in a pile of dog s**t is a regrettable oversight, but stepping in the SAME pile a second time is just utter foolishness.
Randy
I'm not to happy with congress now, but they don't even come close to the republicans as far as my disdain is concerned.
Typical Dobbs ...
He's upset at Congress over the imigration bill--and since he's an elite pundit--the numbers for Congress must automatically be lower than even the rot they replaced.
Dobbs is your typical corporate cable TV hack.
Wow, what an accomplishment - Congress' approval ratings in the low 30's......and this is here to highlight that? Considering about 15% of the public still thinks Elvis is alive, it ain't much to crow about.
The point of the story, Tommy, is to highlight the misinformation of Lou Dobbs regarding the relative approvals of this Congress and the previous one, not the current approval rating of the 110th Congress. But you knew that, right?
Dobbs said "this Congress [is] get[ting] hammered even more in these opinion polls than the previous Congress." even though there's no basis in fact for this assertion.
Of course, we all know that if Dobbs reported it, it's true.
I realize the point of this thread, but the bigger picture, which was what I was commenting on, was the pathetic nature and the pitiful view that the public has of our elected officials - obviously from both parties.
We're not that interested in your point Tommy,
We're interested in the point that Media Matters is making ... and, we're wondering why Lou Dobbs is a billowing, bloviating hack?
Fine. If a post is uninteresting to me, I don't respond. But if you want to waste your time, go for it.
If you knew that tommy then why did you say THIS?
Congress' approval ratings in the low 30's......and this is here to highlight that?
I'd like to see Dobb's reference. My guess is like many, he simply passes along something he read or heard somewhere without checking the facts.
Here is the problem with polls and why I dislike them so much, a Rasmussen poll on May 4th came up with these statistics:
<a href='[link to ads.rasmussenreports.com] target='_blank'><img src='[link to ads.rasmussenreports.com] border='0' alt=''></a> <!-- <div class="articleImage"> <img src="/var/plain/storage/images/public_content/politics/top_stories__1/22_believe_bush_knew_about_9_11_attacks_in_advance/46384-3-eng-US/22_believe_bush_knew_about_9_11_attacks_in_advance_large.jpg" width="225" height="175" alt="" title="" /> <div class="imageCaption"> </div> </div> -->Democrats in America are evenly divided on the question of whether George W. Bush knew about the 9/11 terrorist attacks in advance. Thirty-five percent (35%) of Democrats believe he did know, 39% say he did not know, and 26% are not sure.
Republicans reject that view and, by a 7-to-1 margin, say the President did not know in advance about the attacks. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 18% believe the President knew and 57% take the opposite view.
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http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/22_believe_bush_knew_about_9_11_attacks_in_advanceMy apologies for the garbage code associated with my post. That is a new one on me. I'll try to do better.
AA:
The apology should be for the vagueness of the subject you chose to examine.
Did Bush KNOW about the attacks, prior to 9/11?
It's too simplistic a question to cover all possible opinions on the matter.
For example, the sister question is SHOULD he have known an attack was coming, and SHOULD he have taken SOME action to defend America better against terrorist attack?
I predict a majority of YES and YES to these more specific questions.
Did Bush know that four airliners would be hijacked on 9/11 and flown into the Trade Towers and the Pentagon? (this possibility is included in the broader question above).
The vast majority HERE would say NO. It's extremely unlikely he knew such details.
So, it's all in how the question is ASKED.
Tommy,
Media Matters is highlighting an important point: Once again, Dobbsie has his head right sqare up his butt.
Considering about 15% of the public still thinks Elvis is alive, it ain't much to crow about.
50% of statistics are made up.
And 4/3 of all people have trouble with fractions.
It's really hard to know what to say about this. I wonder, for instance, if the populace is aware how little can get done with such a divided electorate and where many are just being bamboozled into voting for corporate shills who stonewall progressive change...?
Many moons ago I used to vote Republican. Not it's just the opposite, because today there are more "for the people" Dems. And I don't want to see them ranked in the same dunk tank with the others.
Mary,
Don't be fooled.
"After promising unprecedented openness regarding Congress' pork barrel practices, House Democrats are moving in the opposite direction as they draw up spending bills for the upcoming budget year," the Associated Press reports from Washington:
AA,
Just further evidence that if Congress is going to be controlled by the Democrats, we need to make sure that the next President will be fiscally conservative and put the clamps on runaway spending and a bloated, pork-filled budget that we can't afford. Obviously Bush failed miserably with his veto-authority on spending........if we elect another happy spender, we're sunk.
This is the same tellerer who will tell us who the communists are, who the fascists are?
Dobbs would have his audience believe that, however unpopular the Republicans are, that Democrats are LESS popular.
Dobbs holds this view, which is contradicted by the FACTS. Yet, as a talking head paid to give FACTS and NEWS to the public, he feels that actual facts should never trump his partisan view of politics.
If a partisan "NEWS" provider cannot propagandize the public with his ERRONEOUS worldview, what has journalism come to?
Considering he was exposed for lying to his audience, where is his Dan Rather moment? Crickets, anyone?
Not only that, they are lepers!
I LOVE HOW WHEN THE DEMOCRATIC ARE DOWN IN THE POLLS THE RIGHT-WING MEDIA AND MOSTLY FOX NEWS WILL TALK ABOUT POLLS THEN BUT WHEN IT SHOWS REPUBLICANS LOW IN THE POLLS THEY DOWN PLAY THE STORY. LOOK FOR THE OVERKILL IN THE RIGHT-WING MEDIA ON THE JEFFERSON STORY, MOSTLY ON FOX NEWS.
Once there were too little war criminals. Both were busy shooting up some civilians but the one kept pointing at the other guy and screaming "It's his fault!" as they both kept shooting away at the women and children.
Ask Cindy Sheehan how popular the Dems are right now. The People wanted the Dems to end this war...they didn't. They didn't even try. They fund it some more and give us lame excuses why they can't even put the motion to end it on the table. Can't expect the People to be pleased with such performance by those who claim to be our saviours, can we? At least the Repubs are openly fascist, Dems are into trying to con us that they're not. They're not very good at it, their actions keep betraying their lies.
35%. Not good numbers...the People are fed up with being lied to. We're not as stupid as you think, DLC, not at all.
MMFA forgot to add that a Harris poll also asked those surveyed what they thought about current Dems. in congress and current Republicans in congress, and Democrats came out on top as usual.
Why didn't Lou Dobbs point out that the main reason that this congress has low approvasl is the Republicans?
Democrats in congress (good job) 28%
Republicans in cogress (good job0 19%
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=751
Democrats Lose Their EdgePoll Shows Congressional Approval Ratings Have Returned to Pre-Election Levels
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3242551&page=1
I'm disgusted with congress myself - I don't know a single progressive who isn't.
So what?
Is that some kind of evidence that we want the wingnuts back in control with their absolute absence of oversight of the most corrupt administration in history? Maybe I want more fascists on the Supreme court or war with Iran. The only thing that makes this congress look good is memory of the last one.
The problem with this congress is that there is no progressive majority. There are a lot of Democrats I would like to see replaced - in the primary. To see em replaced by rethugs would only compound the disaster they have wrought over the last seven years.