May 28, 2008
Latest Congressional Approval Ratings Suggest You Should Not Vote a Member of Congress into The White House
According to the latest Congressional Approval Ratings (secured May 8-11, 2008, by Gallup), the U.S. Congress' approval rating is now tied for the lowest mark ever in Gallup's history of seeking such information. When asked, "Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?" only 18% of Americans indicated they approved.
From Gallup:
With these numbers in mind, why would voters choose to elect a sitting member of Congress as President? Seriously, if you ran a restaurant and went in search of a new general manager to replace the one you currently have (who by the way has an approval rating of his own of that is the lowest in the history of your entire restaurant chain), and I told you that all of your finalists were from the same restaurant--a restaurant that less than 20% of the time satisfied its customers--wouldn't you restart your search?
And for those of you, who think the low approval rating is synonymous with a Democratic Party-controlled Congress, think again. Republican voters and Democrat voters alike are equally dismayed by Congress' performance.
Again, from Gallup:
(Note: If your eyes are as bad as mine, the above chart shows 20% of Republicans approve, versus 16% of Democrats -- average two and that's where Gallup gets its 18% overall approval rating.)
What's the point in mentioning all of this? It's simple... a friend once told me that Benjamin Franklin coined the popular definition of insanity when said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
I ask you... what is not insane about electing a member of Congress to the highest office in the land... a member of Congress, mind you, who has already been elected to serve a term in Congress that they will vacate to fulfill the duties of the office of the President... a member of Congress who right now--at this very moment (and for the last 12 months or so)--has not being doing the very job they were elected to do by the voters in their district because they have instead chosen to vie for the Commander-in-Chief's job instead.
Insanity indeed!
Posted by Mikal at May 28, 2008 10:31 AM
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Makes me think the definition of insanity ought to be, "The US political system."
I love the restaurant analogy. Honestly, I never thought of it that way before. But I can say that it has always bothered me that a senator, governor, congressman, or person in other political office runs for two offices at the same time, or is so ready to just dump one responsibility for another. I still remember Dukakis' running mate, Bentsen, celebrating after losing his bid for Vice President because he won re-election to the senate.
It also interests me that Republicans support the democratic-controlled congress more than Democrats do.
I remember us talking a couple years ago about how broken things are. Well, politics is a dirty business indeed. Is it so dirty now that it cannot be cleaned? And even if it can be cleaned, will the stench forever remain?
Very interesting. I love the restaurant anaolgy, too. Fantastic way of looking at it.
So, if not someone currently in politics, then who? I think some of the most qualified people would never consider running. And I think by the time they get to a certain level, so many have to be deeply in the system and don't have the fresh blood and ideas we want them to have. Politics is very jading. Even those who start out with the best of intentions get jaded rapidly. And then what? Of course, you know Bush jr ran for gov of Tex to have a political foothold to then turn into a run for the presidency. He'd never been elected to other public office (ran unsuccessfully) and didn't particularly have a successful business career)
So what's the answer? I'm not available, and would never want that kind of scrutiny. Plus I think I have too many skeletons.......so what now?
It reminds me of the NBA, where coaches keep getting head coaching jobs, yet they could have gone 8-72 with their 3 previous teams. Baffling I tells ya.
Also I love how members of congress can go out and spend hundreds of millions of dollars, or as in the case of John McCain, can take Federal funds! - and not pay attention at all to their job they are supposed to be doing to interview for another job.
I remember Jerry Brown, former Governor of California, when he said that politics is like a fish house. It stinks. But if you work there long enough, you get used to it and it doesn't stink any more. You have to leave it for awhile and when you return, you'll notice again that it stinks.
NBA coach analogy good too!
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