Approval of Republicans at record low: poll

I found this story through Simply Left Behind, and so I went to the Reuters source:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With congressional elections less than three weeks away, the Republican party's approval ratings are at an all-time low, with approval of the Republican-led Congress at its lowest point in 14 years, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday.

Forty-seven percent of respondents said they were less in favor of keeping Republicans in control of Congress, compared to 14 percent who were more in favor of maintaining the current congressional makeup, according to the poll.

Only 16 percent of respondents approve of the job Congress is doing, the lowest level since 1992, NBC said.

In October 1994, when Democrats held congressional majorities, Congress had a 24 percent job approval, NBC said. Democrats lost 52 House and 8 Senate seats in the 1994 midterm elections.

Only 16 percent of respondents approve of the job Congress is doing. Just when you thought it couldn't get any lower, we find ourselves reading another new low for another new poll.

Now I do find the next paragraph interesting. In the 1994 elections, the Democratic Congress had a 24 percent job approval rating. In the 94 midterm elections, the Democrats lost 52 House and 8 Senate seats. Fast-forward to 2006 and we've got a Republican Congress with a 16 percent approval rating--and all the House seats are up for re-election. Now I've seen a few numbers being tossed out in the mainstream media as to how many seats the Democrats will pick up in both the House and Senate. I don't know how valid these estimates are. But this NBC News poll does show an interesting comparison here. When Congress' job approval rating drops down in the low 20s, you can expect the political party in control of Congress will be removed from power.

We'll have to see what happens in two weeks.