Congressional Approval Rating

A recent Gallup poll showed that the congressional approval rating stands at a Dick Cheneyesquely anemic 13%.

OK, what does that mean?

It means that people are pissed off at Congressional members of the opposing party. That's it. Yes, 65% expressed disappointment at their own representative(s) in Congress, but all they are really saying is that they are angry at the other side; they will still re-elect their current representative.

In 2008, before the general elections, people expressed disgust at Congress, as they did in 2010. "Vote the bums out!" was the mantra. What that really meant was that you should vote for the candidate that belongs to the party they belong, and not for the other guy.

Of course the mainstream media drums this up to be some sort of an anti-incumbent movement. Inane, since the numbers do not lie.

In 2010, the severe backlash of anti-incumbency led to a whopping 87% of the incumbents being re-elected. And that was the worst performance by an incumbent class since 1970. The previous election when "Hope and Change" led the way, 90% of incumbents were re-elected.

Anti-incumbency is a myth, it takes substantial efforts and extraordinary circumstances to unseat an incumbent. Which is another reason the congressional approval rating does not matter.

Historically, nine in ten incumbents are re-elected.  That is a simple fact.