Midsummer Key Performance Polls Analysis

T he first thing that comes to mind is this generic notion being reported in the mainstream media that the entire government suffers from the same levels of perceptions that they are "doing nothing" or "ignoring the will of the people."

In this most recent Harris Poll, we see that different elements have different perceptions.

At the top but still under 50%, is that of Secretary of State Rice, who would personify the notion that doing nothing and staying quiet may be the consolation that makes one seem to be effective.


N ext, we see that individuals seem to do better than groups. Even Bush as an individual seems to satisfy more voters than the Congress . Despite congress being lower than the President, House Speaker Pelosi does far better than Bush while Senate Leader Reid does worse.

When comparing parties, we see that the Dems are a full 33% more popular than the GOP in congress, at 31-21% respectively.

F inally, we look at the trends over just the last month. Confidence in both the President and Congress have continued to fall noticeably over the past month, as if there was no eventual plateau. It makes one ask, "How low can you go?"

Regarding the two most influential issues, 1) the wars (Iraq and Afghanistan) and 2) immigration have both the President and Congress drawing the anger of the people as the consensus is that neither cares about what the voters want. It seems that somehow, both parties and both political extremes have joined together to either fail to address the problem or to present solutions the electorate finds unacceptable. The result, nothing; and some would say that is better than passing another comprehensive immigration reform bill that says one thing and does another.