Job Ratings for Congress still near all time low

NEW YORK, Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- While almost all the election related media attention has been on the Republicans battling for the chance to challenge President Obama in November, every seat in the House of Representatives is also up for election this November. And, if the election for Congress were being held today, among registered voters, it would be a tie with 38% voting for the Republican candidate and 38% voting for the Democratic candidate. Just under one in ten (8%) would vote for another party's candidate and 16% are not sure who they would vote for.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100517/NY06256LOGO)

Almost nine in ten Republicans (88%) would vote for their candidate and four in five Democrats (81%) would vote for their candidate while Independents are a bit more divided as 28% would vote for the Democratic candidate, 26% for the Republican, 15% for another party's candidate and three in ten (30%) are not sure.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,016 adults surveyed online between January 16 and 23, 2012 by Harris Interactive.

One issue that Members of Congress have is that the institution itself as well as the two major parties in Congress and the leaders are all looking at very low job approval ratings. Specifically:

• When it comes to Congress itself, just 6% of Americans would rate the overall job they are doing positively while 94% would rate their job negatively. Last month 5% gave them positive ratings while 95% gave them negative ones;
• Over two in five Americans (46%) give Speaker of the House John Boehner negative ratings, 11% give him positive marks and more than two in five (44%) are not familiar enough to have an opinion;
• Looking at the two Democratic Congressional leaders, over half of Americans (53%) give House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi negative ratings, while 13% give her positive marks and 34% are not familiar with her. Two in five U.S. adults (42%) give Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid negative ratings, 8% give him positive ratings and half (50%) are not familiar enough with him to have an opinion; and,
• Looking at the two political parties, over half of Americans have negative opinions of the job both Republicans in Congress (56%) and Democrats in Congress (53%) are doing. Just one in ten have a positive opinion of the job Republicans in Congress are doing (10%) and 13% have positive opinions of the job Democrats in Congress are doing. One-third of U.S. adults are not familiar enough with the job either party is doing (34% for both) to have an opinion regarding them.

So What?
With approval ratings at historic lows, Members of Congress have reason to be nervous about their chances for re-election. This may be why, so far, around 30 have decided to retire rather than run again. There also isn't any one to rally around – President Obama's ratings are also low and, with the bruising primary so far, it's possible that whoever emerges as the Republican candidate will be damaged, so coattails from the presidential race may be short. Representatives have to hope that the old adage of "hate the Institution, but like my Member" holds true for November or it could be another watershed year with incumbents not able to win re-election.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Methodology
This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between January 16 and 23, 2012 among 2,016 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

J41215
Q1215, 1225, 1228, 1260

The Harris Poll^® #12, January 31, 2012
By Regina A. Corso, SVP, Harris Poll, Public Relations and Youth Research, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American and European offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

Press Contact:
Corporate Communications
Harris Interactive
212-539-9600
press@harrisinteractive.com  

SOURCE Harris Interactive

Back to top

RELATED LINKS
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheHarrisInteractive
http://twitter.com/harrispoll
http://twitter.com/harrisint
http://www.facebook.com/HarrisPoll
http://www.facebook.com/harrisinteractive?ref=share
http://www.harrisinteractive.com