Another Story You Won't See

...in today's Washington Post, or tonight, on ABC's World News.

A hat tip to John Hinderaker at Poweline for spotting this inconvenient truth about the new, Democrat-controlled Congress. Despite fawning media coverage of the "100 Hour Agenda," legislative efforts to withdraw troops from Iraq, and grandstanding on the U.S. attorney "scandal," the new Congress has even lower approval ratings than President Bush. The latest Gallup survey--taken last week--shows that Congress has only a 28% approval rating (64% disapprove of their job performance). The Gallup results (along with data from other polls) indicate that Congressional Democrats received only a modest post-election bounce, and their approval numbers now mirror those for the previous, GOP-controlled Congress.

Hinderaker's analysis of the poll results is spot-on. As he notes, the Democrats don't have anything approaching a positive agenda, and many of their proposals appeal only to the party's ultra-left wing lunatic fringe. I believe the current flap over those fired U.S. attorneys is another losing issue for Democrats--certainly nothing that will drive their approval ratings higher.

And that raises another question: if their approval ratings remain in the toilet, how long will Congressional Democrats stick with their current leadership team? Newt Gingrich faced a coup attempt barely two years into his speakership, and that was after the success of the "Contract With America." It's still early, but the new Congress has no comparable record of achievement to run on; I can't believe the Democrats will be any less restless, particularly if their hold on power is threatened.

But you won't hear much about that in the MSM. In fact, there seems to be a dearth of stories on continued low approval ratings for Congress, despite the fact that media outlets still query voters on that topic. Not long ago, there was an almost daily barrage of stories on Congress and its low approval numbers. But that was when the GOP was in charge.