Poll: Congress' Approval Same As Bush - POOR!

From the Guardian (UK):

People think the Democratic-led Congress is doing just as dreary a job as President Bush, following four months of bitter political standoffs that have seen little progress on Iraq and a host of domestic issues.

An AP-Ipsos poll also found that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a more popular figure than the president and her colleagues on Capitol Hill, though she faces a gender gap in which significantly more women than men support her.

The survey found only 35 percent approve of how Congress is handling its job, down 5 percentage points in a month. That gives lawmakers the same bleak approval rating as Bush, who has been mired at about that level since last fall, including his dip to a record low for the AP-Ipsos poll of 32 percent last January.

How can this be??? Here is what Republican genius Tom Cole thinks...

"It's mostly Iraq" plus a lack of progress in other areas, said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who heads the House GOP's campaign committee. "These are not good numbers for an incumbent, and it doesn't matter if you have an R or a D next to your name."

Uhh, no, that ain't it. Maybe the Democrat point of view will get it right...

Democrats agree the problem is largely Iraq , which has dominated this year's session of Congress while producing little more than this month's Bush veto of a bill requiring the withdrawal of U.S. troops. It has also overshadowed House-passed bills on stem cell research, student loans and other subjects that the White House opposes, they say.

"People are unhappy, there hasn't been a lot of change in direction, for example in Iraq ," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., chairman of House Democrats' campaign effort.

Ugh...doesn't anybody in Washington get it? The American people are tired of politics as usual. We the People are exhausted with the all too typical partisan struggle just to get the troops funded. We're sick of the pork. We're sick of the lack of focus.

Basically...it's the partisan politics, stupid!

At some point, somebody is going to have the courage and conviction to stand up and say that it is well past time that our "leaders" in Washington figure out a way to win the war on terror which inclues winning the peace in Iraq.