It's easy to see why the Republicans are doing their best to make this election about the president, instead of the dysfunctional Congress. That's because the job approval numbers for Congress are still among the worst in this nation's history -- and it's looking like that is not going to improve before the November election. The voters are in a definite anti-incumbent mood -- and with Republicans holding more competitive House seats, that could be bad news for the GOP.
The newest Gallup Poll (done between July 7th and 10th of a random national sample of 1,013 adults, with a margin of error of 4 points) confirms the approval of Congress is not improving. Only 15% approve of the job Congress is doing, while 80% disapprove (a record high disapproval for the Gallup Poll).
And it's not just Gallup showing the disapproval has not improved. There have been four national polls taken on this question in June and July, and they all show the same thing -- that Congress has a very low approval rating. The RealClearPolitics average of those four polls shows congressional approval at 13.3%, and disapproval at 75.5%.
I honestly don't understand why the national media seems to be buying into the Republican lie that the coming election will be a referendum on the president. All the polls seem to agree that this election is going to be a referendum on the worst and most dysfunctional Congress in this country's history.