Field Poll: Californians Rate Overall Congress Job Performance at New Low--Failure to End Iraq War Seen as Major Cause

Looking a bit deeper at the Field numbers, as one would expect, there is a partisan divide between how Democrats and Republicans in California view the job performance of those from the different parties in Congress. But Republicans are faring far worse with those voters not affiliated with either party. Since there are more registered Democrats than Republicans, this combination bodes well for the Democrats--especially given the scandals plaguing a number of California Republican Members of Congress.

Democrats approve of their own party members as a whole in Congress by a tepid 53% to 34%. Republicans register 13% approval and 80% disapproval of Democrats in Congress. Other voters approve by 26% to 54% disapproval.

Republicans approve of their own party members in Congress by a similar tepid 33% to 56% disapproval, and Democrats have a decidedly lopsided disapproval of Republicans by 81% to 8%. However, those voters who are not affiliated with either party disapprove of the Republicans by a 66% to 16% margin.

These non Democratic and Republican voters give a 10 point margin to the Democrats in their approval and a 12% greater disapproval to the Republicans, as a whole, in Congress.

There are striking parallels between the Field Poll and the national results of the Gallup Poll released earlier this week in which 18% of Americans approve of Congress.

Gallup reported:

"Americans' evaluations of the job Congress is doing are usually not that positive -- the vast majority of historical approval ratings have been below 50%. The high point was 84% approval one month after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when Americans rallied behind the federal government. Since then, Congress' approval ratings have generally exhibited the same downward trajectory seen in those for President George W. Bush. Currently, 32% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing as president, a far cry from the record-high 90% he received in September 2001. Bush's current job approval rating is just three percentage points above his lowest.

"There was a slight interruption in the downward trend in congressional approval ratings at the beginning of this year when party control changed hands from the Republicans to the Democrats following last fall's midterm elections. In January 2007, 35% of Americans approved of Congress, a significant increase from the 21% who approved of Congress in December 2006. That December rating tied the lowest in the 12 years the Republicans controlled Congress from 1995 to 2006."

Job Performance of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

California registered voters are split on whether they approve the job performance of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi with 39% approving and 37% disapproving and a full 24% having no opinion. This is below the 48% approval in March, but the approval level is higher than the previous measures of support--37% and 34%--of her role as the House Minority leader, although the disapproval is up about 10 points from these levels in 2003 and 2004.

Pelosi gets 56% to 21% approval from Democrats, 36% to 29% approval from non-partisan/others, and pounded by Republicans 64% to 19%. It is this Republican disapproval that brings her down to virtual parity in her overall approval/disapproval level. There is a similar divide by regions in the state, with 58% to 28% approval in the San Francisco Bay Area and 41% to 31% approval in Los Angeles County, and disapprovals in "other Southern California" by 45% to 29% and in "Other Northern California" regions by 42% to 32%.

Job Performance of California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer

Both of California's U.S. Senators retain positive job approval ratings, Feinstein near her usual stratospheric level at 56% to 28% approval and Boxer by 48% to 33%, right about the same level she was at in the years of her last two re-elections.

There is the usual partisan divide here and Feinstein does better with California Republicans than Boxer, but what is most interesting in these numbers is that Boxer does at least as well, if not slightly better with the non-partisan/other voters, getting approval from 49% with 24% disapproving. The difference between her and Feinstein who is at 4(% approval and 28% disapproval are within the margin of error of the poll, but Boxer enjoys a 25 point advantage in approval from these voters who are neither registered Democrats nor Republicans. That bodes well for her re-election.

You can read the entire Field Poll online. As usual, your comments and interpretations are welcome in the comment section of this article.