Poll: Congress Is Corrupt

Gypsies, tramps and thieves: With legislators looking for way to divest themselves of ill-gotten Abramoff-tainted money, Americans are looking at their congressional representatives with a jaundiced eye, according to National Journal’s PollTrack:

CNN/Gallup/USA Today pollsters found that a 49% plurality said most members of Congress are corrupt, and 46% said they were not. With nearly nine in 10 respondents saying corruption will be at least moderately important in the 2006 midterms, CNN’s analysis suggests that “Congress’ image could emerge as an election topic.”

Numbers didn’t vary much between the two major parties, however: 52% said “only a few” Democrats in Congress are corrupt; 49% said the same of Republicans; 2% for each party said no members are corrupt, and fewer than two in 10 said “almost all” were crooked.

Respondents to a recent National Public Radio survey don’t see ethics problems limited to one party, either — 19% said troubles lie more with Republicans than Democrats and 14% said the reverse, but a 65% majority said both parties had problems with ethics.

But those respondents also don’t think the shady dealings in the nation’s capital are anything new. Nearly two-thirds said that the current Congress’ problems with ethics are the “same as usual”; 27% said there are more corruption issues than usual, and 7% said there are fewer.

A plurality of respondents to an October Diageo/Hotline survey named federal elected officials (24%) as the most likely to be corrupt — more than officials who were appointed (20%) or serve on the state level (13%) or local level (18%).

Half of NPR respondents also said they disapproved of Congress’ job; 43% approved. President Bush’s numbers were slightly further apart at a 44/53 approve/disapprove split.

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One thought on “Poll: Congress Is Corrupt”

But what always happens with polls like this is that people say Congress is corrupt in the abstract (a lot of stand-up comedians would be without material if everyone didn’t agree on that) but that their own senator or representative is a great guy or gal. It’s hard to say what it really means.

Poll: Congress Is Corrupt

One thought on “Poll: Congress Is Corrupt”

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Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“One woman at a rally in New Jersey told me last week that she was ‘nauseously optimistic.’ That may capture a lot of people’s last-minute jitters.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by Axios, on what Democrats feel ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”

— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by The Wrap.

“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.

Numerati

3,824

$1.4 billion

-35 points

31%

63% to 38%

KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”