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If members of Congress were up for a job review right now — instead of a year from now — the ranks of the unemployed would swell to an even higher level. Americans place a lot of the blame for conditions in the country on Congress and, because of that, about two-thirds want to “throw them out” of office, according to the latest FOX News poll. The national telephone poll was conducted for FOX News by Opinion Dynamics Corp. among 900 registered voters from October 27 to October 28, 2009. The poll has a 3-point error margin. A sizable majority...

The partisan split among the sample is a little narrower than usual — 40/37 between Democrats and Republicans — but never mind that. Focus on independents. Congressional Dems rate slightly higher than Repubs (36/29), but never mind that either. The more this becomes an anti-incumbency movement, the more the majority party will suffer. Further to that point, read Ruffini’s counter-Gingrichian advice to the GOP to follow Doug Hoffman’s lead and run conservative candidates next year as stealth independents in select areas. It’s a crafty idea for blue districts where the GOP has virtually no chance anyway; anywhere else and it’s...

Vice President Joe Biden's favorable rating has fallen to 42 percent in a new Gallup poll, down from a high of 59 percent just after last year's election. Biden's unfavorable rating in the new poll is 40 percent, up from 29 percent last November. (Eighteen percent of those surveyed say they have no opinion of Biden.) Biden's average favorable rating during his time in office so far is 45 percent -- well below the average 65 percent favorable rating for Vice President Dick Cheney during Cheney's first year in office. Vice President Al Gore's favorable rating during his first year,...

WASHINGTON – Californians have an overwhelmingly negative view of Congress, with two of every three voters disapproving of its performance, according to the latest Field Poll. Only 23 percent said they approve of the way Congress is conducting itself. It's the highest disapproval rate since 1996. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco doesn't fare much better, with more Californians rating her negatively than positively. About one in three – or 34 percent – gave her good marks, while nearly half – 44 percent – said they disapprove of her performance. That's a sharp turnaround from March, when 48...

Dem Pollster Asked Not to PollSeptember 18, 2009 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Here is our blowtorch affiliate in Raleigh, North Carolina, yesterday, WPTF radio, the Bill LuMaye Show. He's talking to Tom Jensen, the director of Public Policy Polling communications, and he says, "How important are your polls to a political party, whether Republican or Democrat? Do they look at this and go, 'Holy cow'? They recognize the trouble they're in, don't they?" JENSEN: Absolutely. We've had campaign managers for Democratic candidates in other states call us up and ask us not to poll their states because they don't want the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Americans think the Federal Reserve is doing a worse job than even the much-maligned Internal Revenue Service. Only 30 percent of Americans think the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors is doing a good job despite the central bank's unprecedented efforts to battle a crippling recession, according to a Gallup Poll released on Monday. That makes the Fed the worst reviewed of nine key agencies -- including the tax-collecting IRS -- the Gallup poll of more than 1,000 Americans between July 10 and 12 showed. Twenty-two percent of Americans said the central bank was doing a poor...

Congress goes on vacation with most Americans unhappy with the work it's doing these days. A FOX News poll released Monday shows that 30 percent of voters say they approve of the job Congress is doing, while twice as many -- 60 percent -- disapprove. In May, 41 percent approved and 49 percent disapproved. The drop in Congress' approval rating comes almost entirely from Democrats and independents. Some 42 percent of Democrats say they disapprove of Congress, up significantly from 25 percent two months ago (12-13 May 2009). Similarly, 66 percent of independents disapprove, while 53 percent said so in...

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi would rather be trusted than liked but according to a recent poll she ranks low in both regards by the public. From the Politico House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is one of the most despised political figures in the country. And, frankly, she doesn’t give a damn. “No, I don’t care,” Pelosi told POLITICO last Thursday, laughing heartily as she walked beneath the Capitol dome and plunged into a crowd of tourists.

Fewer Americans Content with Speaker PelosiJuly 02, 2009 (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The approval rating of House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi has significantly slipped in the United States, according to a poll by TNS released by the Washington Post and ABC News. 38 per cent of respondents approve of Pelosi’s performance, down 15 points since April 2007. American voters renewed the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate in November 2006. In January 2007, the Democratic Party took control of the lower house for the first time since 1994, with 233 lawmakers. Pelosi, a Democratic California congresswoman,...

A month after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's showdown with the CIA over interrogation techniques, just 38 percent of Americans approve of her job performance, while 45 percent disapprove, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released yesterday. That's the lowest approval rating she has received in the poll. One clear trend line has emerged in the California Democrat's 2 1/2 -year reign as speaker, and that's a slow but steady rise in unpopularity. Shortly after she became the first woman to serve as House speaker, just 25 percent of voters disapproved of her, according to a Post-ABC poll in January...

Overall, 54% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance so far. Forty-five percent (45%) disapprove.

U.S. President Barack Obama has reservations, the Arabs are protesting and the Europeans are doubtful, but for the Israeli public, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech on Sunday evening was a big success. Right and left, Kadima and Likud, new immigrants and old-timers all found something they liked in the address at Bar-Ilan University. For example, in only a month, Netanyahu's approval rating has jumped 16 percentage points from a low of 28 percent the day after the cabinet debate over the budget on May 14. The 44 percent achieved yesterday comes a day after the speech. Public support for Netanyahu's...

As Dick Cheney prepares to give a major speech on the battle against terrorism, a new national poll suggests that favorable opinions of the former vice president are on the rise. But the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, released Wednesday morning, indicates that a majority of Americans still have an unfavorable opinion of Cheney. Fifty-five percent of people questioned in the poll say they have an unfavorable opinion of the former vice president. Thirty-seven percent say they have a favorable opinion of Cheney, up eight points from January when he left office. In the past two months the former vice president...

Dick Cheney prepares to give a major speech on the battle against terrorism, a new national poll suggests that favorable opinions of the former vice president are on the rise. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is scheduled to give a major speech on the battle against terrorism Thursday. But the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, released Thursday morning, indicates that a majority of Americans still have an unfavorable opinion of Cheney. Fifty-five percent of people questioned in the poll say they have an unfavorable opinion of the former vice president. Thirty-seven percent say they have a favorable opinion of Cheney, up...

For the second straight week, Democrats and Republicans are tied on the Generic Congressional Ballot. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 39% would vote for their district’s Democratic candidate while 39% would choose the Republican. Last week, the parties were tied at 38%, representing the lowest level of support for Democrats to date. The GOP took its first small lead in recent years in mid-March, but that didn’t last and the Democrats pulled slightly ahead for several weeks before last week’s tie. It’s important to note that Republicans have not been gaining support. Rather, Democrats have been...

The weekly Kos/Research2000 poll has some bad news for all Dems not named Obama. Democratic party approval lost 7 points, congressional Dem approval lost 5 — and Speaker Nancy Pelosi lost 4 points on the favorable/unfavorable scale. The GOP held serve. FAV. UNFAV. NET CHANGE OBAMA 67 (65) 30 (29) +1 PELOSI 35 (37) 45 (43) -4 REID 33 (34) 50 (48) -3 McCONNELL 22 (20) 55 (54) +1 BOEHHNER 16 (14) 57 (56) +1 CNG. DEMS 41 (43) 52 (49) -5 CNG GOPS 17 (18) 69 (71) +1 DEMS PARTY 49 (52) 42 (38) -7 GOP PARTY 25 (27)...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s popularity has fallen to a new low for the year, with 60 percent of likely voters now viewing her unfavorably according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Friday. Even worse news for the California Democrat: A whopping 42 percent characterize her job performance as “very unfavorable.” The trend looks bad for Pelosi as well. Just two weeks ago, 53 percent of those surveyed viewed Pelosi somewhat or very unfavorably, and her “very unfavorable” rating was 36 percent. A 7 point favorability decline in two weeks suggests Pelosi’s popularity is in a serious tailspin. Despite this week’s...

Sixty percent (60%) of U.S. voters now have an unfavorable opinion of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, including 42% Very Unfavorable, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. A growing number of her doubters seem to be fellow Democrats. While these are Pelosi’s highest negatives yet in the current session of Congress, Republican congressional leaders haven’t been the beneficiaries. Their numbers remain virtually unchanged. Thirty-four percent (34%) have a favorable view of Pelosi, with nine percent (9%) Very Favorable. Just seven percent (7%) have no opinion of the speaker. Two weeks ago, 36% viewed the San Francisco congresswoman favorably...

More good news.

“Limbaugh’s Favorable Rating: 19 Percent,” shouts the headline at the top of CBSNews.com tonight. A look, however, at the PDF of the full CBS News poll results, posted at 6:30 PM EDT Tuesday, pegs House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's favorable rating a point lower at 18 percent -- within the margin of error, but evidence Limbaugh is no less popular than the leader of congressional Democrats. (Friday's CBS Evening News highlighted President Obama's 62 percent approval level and a few other results about the bailouts, but didn't mention the Limbaugh or Pelosi numbers.) CBSNews.com's Brian Montopoli had a news hook...