If in the run-up to last year's elections a poll identified a three percent approval rating for the way Congress - which was controlled by Republicans at the time in case you forgot - was handling the war in Iraq, do you think you would have heard about it?
Maybe on every morning and evening news program for days, and on the front pages of every newspaper, correct?
Well, on Wednesday, Zogby International released the results of a stunning new poll that got virtually no attention.
Why?
Because it identified that virtually nobody in America thinks Congress - which is now currently controlled by Democrats in case you forgot - is doing a good job concerning Iraq (emphasis added throughout, h/t Glenn Reynolds):
Just 24% give the president favorable ratings of his performance in handling the war in Iraq, but confidence in Congress is significantly worse - only 3% give Congress positive marks for how it has handled the war.
That's right. Eight times as many people think the president is doing a good job handling the war in Iraq than those who feel Congress is.
Any questions why you didn't hear about this poll unless you were listening to Rush Limbaugh yesterday?
Now, the typical liberal explanation for this low Congressional approval would be that it's caused by disgruntlement over legislators not ending the war.
Not true:
42% believe Congress should fully fund the war in Iraq to maintain current troop levels, while 34% would favor attaching requirements for phased withdrawal to Iraq war funding. Just 18% said cutting all funding for the war in Iraq to bring troops home would be the best showing of Congressional support.
As such, if Congress' low rating concerning this issue was due to its failure to immediately withdraw troops, a much higher percentage of Americans would favor such a withdrawal.
And, as Don Surber pointed out Friday, the disgruntlement is quite bipartisan: "94% of Democrats polled absolutely detest, loathe and hate how the Democratic-led Congress is handling the war in Iraq."
Yet, maybe even funnier, James Zogby, the founder and president of the Arab American Institute who also happens to be a senior analyst for Zogby International, wrote another Bush-bashing op-ed for HuffPo Friday:
[T]he realities of the war have persisted and taken a toll on public opinion. Our early polling has been validated. It has gone on too long, not gone well, and taken too many lives. The myths have been shattered, and the public has stopped believing.
Apparently, James didn't read his brother's company's poll two days prior, for nowhere in his piece did Zogby refer to Congress and its role in war.
On the other hand, maybe James is part of the three percent of Americans that believe Congress is doing a good job in Iraq.
Or, is he just part of the margin of error?
