If the Rag must continue publishing David Broder
I guess I must point out his more laughable assertions. From his latest:When I asked Hoyer how then he explained the terrible reputation of this Congress, he insisted that it did not reflect the reputation of individual members - which may be true but is not really a response.
I think that institutional reputation has been damaged by two things: the sense that Democrats and Republicans would rather score partisan points off each other than look for ways to work together, and the frustration at Congress' inaction on the big issues of greatest concern to voters.
Professor Broder knows why, of course, but he'd never say it. The answer is twofold all right, but not the two folds seen above.
1) Virtually every Democratic voter expected his/her Congressman to defund the Iraq occupation, or at the very least to go to the wall, to call Bush's bluff on his Excellent Adventure. Of course this was going to be very difficult, if not historically unprecedented; but when sufficient number of Bush Dog Dems wimped out and left Reid and Pelosi holding the flaming bag of dog poop, those Democratic voters weren't likely to say "Approve" when asked by pollsters their opinion of congress.
2) Real Clear Politics may be a respectable polling outfit, but they are of a right-wing persuasion, and they've taken out big ol' ads on FoxNews.com. Said ads have been running for nearly two years now touting this heretofore unheralded "Congressional Approval Rating" right next to the Presidential approval ratings, as if they were somehow equivalent. A very lazy corporate media noticed (because if it isn't Drudge rockin' their world, it's Fox) and ran with the story.
That's why.
posted by hillbilly ragger @ 7:51 AM
