How will the much-maligned Congress deal with a president with sky-high approval ratings? And, further, how will that president work with Congress?
In a much-quoted interview with The Hill in early January, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stressed his institution's autonomy when he said, "I do not work for Barack Obama." Given Congress' standing these days, he was wise to add, "I work with him."
In the latest polls, views about Barack Obama are extraordinarily positive--and he clearly has the upper hand, since Congress' ratings are in the dumps. Gallup has been tracking views of Congress since April 1974, when 30% approved of the job the body was doing. Approval dropped to a low of 19% in July 1979, when economic news was especially grim and neither Jimmy Carter nor the Congress appeared able to respond.
The institution's ratings hit a new low, 18%, in early 1992. But views became much more positive as the economy hummed along in the late 1990s, and in 2001 and 2002, solid majorities approved in Gallup's yearly averages.
But lately, Congress has been earning especially disappointing ratings. In 10 approval questions asked between April and December 2008, 20% or less of the respondents approved of how the body is governing, including the all-time low of 14% last summer. The new Gallup/USA Today poll, administered earlier this month, continues the pattern, with 19% approving and 76% disapproving. The dissatisfaction spans party lines: Democrats, Republicans and Independents all give similar negative assessments.
Survey questions that ask people whether they have a "favorable" or "unfavorable" impression of institutions usually produce more positive assessments than "approve/disapprove" questions, probably because the former's language is softer. In the latest mid-January poll from the Pew Research Center, 40% of respondents had a favorable opinion of Congress, while 52% expressed an unfavorable one. Still, that 40% is Congress' lowest rating since Pew started asking the question almost a quarter-century ago.
The low opinion of the Democratic-led Congress is especially interesting given the public's positive views of the Democratic Party as a whole. Sixty-two percent of poll respondents had a favorable view of the party.
Congressional leaders don't fare well either. In the latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, 28% had a favorable opinion of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, 28% an unfavorable opinion and 43% hadn't made up their minds. As for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 39% had a favorable opinion. Thirty-seven percent had an unfavorable one--a figure up from the 23% recorded just after she became speaker. Significantly, by comparison, 78% of poll respondents had a favorable opinion of Obama.
Further reflecting the widening gap between the new president's popularity and Congress' low regard, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll found that 62% of respondents said they were more likely to trust Obama when the president and the Democratic Congress disagreed. Only one-fourth said they were more likely to trust the Democratic leaders in Congress.
The public's verdict on Congress is a performance judgment. It probably also reflects the fact that Congress has myriad responsibilities, and there is much to criticize. Americans' longstanding disdain for politics doesn't help the body's image; nor do scandals popping up with unfortunate regularity.
For these reasons, it is unrealistic to expect Congress' ratings to improve significantly any time soon. But it also true that even an unpopular Congress has significant clout, as President Obama's Democratic predecessors Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter learned in dealing with the body in the early years of their presidencies. That may be one reason the President has loaded his Cabinet with former members who can work the Hill. Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Vice President Joe Biden, for example, served in the House and Senate, respectively, and have strong ties.
Obama is only the fourth sitting member of Congress to become president, and his two years in the Senate may help as he pushes his legislative agenda forward. But as Harry Reid's January interview suggests, Congress--despite its abysmal approval ratings--views itself as an equal partner to the president, one which will assert itself sooner or later.
Karlyn Bowman, a senior fellow who studies public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute, writes a weekly column for Forbes.com.
