Nobody likes Congress

A recent Harris Poll finds that Democrats and Republicans give Congress a negative rating, and that Democrats hold the edge on a generic November ballot.

According to the survey, more than four in five Americans (86%) give the overall job Congress is doing a negative rating while just 14% give it positive marks. Breaking this down by party, almost all Republicans (97%) give Congress negative marks, as do nine in 10 Independents (90%). Also, even though Congress is under Democratic control, three-quarters of Democrats (75%) give the institution negative ratings.

Harris conducted an online survey of 2,227 U.S. adults between June 14-21.

OTHER SURVEY FINDINGS
• Tea Party support continues to hold steady with just under two in five Americans (37%) supporting the Tea Party Movement and three in ten (31%) opposing it. In May, 38% of Americans said they were Tea Party supporters while 30% were opposed to the movement. Most of this support is coming from Republicans (69% support the movement) followed by Independents (43%), while over half of Democrats (56%) oppose it.

• While over one-third of Americans may be supporters of the Tea Party movement, this does not mean they all consider themselves members of the Party. Just 8% would describe themselves as a member of the Tea Party while 77% would not. In May, 10% of Americans said they were Tea Party members.

• If the election for Congress were being held today and only a Democrat and a Republican were running, just over one-third (34%) of U.S. adults would vote for the Democratic candidate while three in ten (30%) would vote for the Republican candidate. In May, 35% said they would vote for the Democrat and 28% would vote for the Republican, so this gap is narrowing.

• However, it would be better news for the Democrats if a Tea Party candidate enters the race. Just over one-third (34%) of Americans would still vote for the Democrat, but 18% would vote for the Republican candidate and 14% would for the Tea Party candidate.