Poll: Public favors Democrats over Republicans to win control of Congress." Well, at least that's what the headline in the the Santa Fe New Mexican's article read, surely sending some initial shivers in some Republican.
Appearing to be rattling the chains of elections past, the A.P. went big up front, declaring:
In an ominous election-year sign for Republicans, Americans are leaning sharply toward giving Democrats control of Congress, an AP-Ipsos poll finds. Democrats are favored 49 percent to 36 percent.
The poll was taken this week as Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to tax evasion, fraud and corruption charges and agreed to aid a federal investigation of members of Congress and other government officials.
First off, all those Republicans that find themselves staying up late at night worrying whether the GOP will retain control of congress, read the Cook report on the Dem's chances of regaining control of the house in 06.
Second, as much as I'd like to believe the poll is a sign that Americans of all political stripes are fed up with the culture of corruption gripping our nation, the poll seems to suggest instead that if anything is dragging down the GOP, its not revelations involving Jack Abramoff, but rather President Bush and revelations of poor job performance. (you can read the entirety of the poll for yourself here.)
When asked a general approve or disapprove question regarding George W.'s handling of his job as President, the response was a follows:
- 19% strongly approved
- 11% somewhat approved
- 11% lean toward approval
- 1% have mixed feelings
- 12% lean toward disapproval
- 5% somewhat disapprove
- 41% strongly disapprove
Total approval 40% vs. disapproval 59%
On the Economy: 39% approval vs. 59% disapproval
handling of domestic issues: 35% approval vs. 62% disapproval.
Foreign policy and the war on terrorism: 44% approval to 54% disapproval
social security: 35% approval vs. 60% disapproval
When asked if they approve or disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling the situation in Iraq, the response was as follows:
- 23% said they strongly approve
- 9% somewhat approve
- 7% lean toward approval
- 2% still have mixed feelings
- 10% lean toward disapproval
- 6% somewhat disapprove
- 43% strongly disapprove.
Breaking down to 39% total approval vs. 58% disapproval.
And when asked if, "generally speaking, would you say things in this country are heading in the right direction, or are they off on the wrong track?" 32% said right track compared to 65% who said wrong track.
Not so surprising that when asked if they generally approve or disapprove of the manner in which congress is handling it's job, a total of 34% or respondents said they approved compared to 63% who said they did not.
So which party is being blamed? Well, consider the response to question number 5 from the Ipsos-AP poll: 
The number of respondents who, despite not being given the option, stated they'd choose neither party to control congress--12%. What if all respondents had been given the option of choosing neither? I'm guessing that number would be much higher.
And given that only 8% of participants in the poll identified themselves as Independents, that means the remaining 4% are presumably defecting from either the Dems or the Reps or both (I'm curious which are defecting in greater numbers to that "neither" column). 
So if Americans have given into cynicism regarding politics, what does it matter if the Abramoff scandal is about Republicans and the Vigil scandal about Democrats? If you're Uncle is one of those guys that responds to indictments of public officials with the casual "what did you expect? They're all crooks" comment, when will the age old issue of corruption in politics become important enough for him to vote if he never has before? What will it take for that person to reconsider their level of political involvement?
Maybe a loved one going off to Iraq? What's the relationship between war in Iraq and the culture of corruption in the United States? Again, consider the following:
According to the Center for Public Integrity
Currently, there are more than 150 companies with contracts worth up to $48,700,000,000 dollars, working in either Iraq or Afghanistan
As of 2003, more than 70 American companies and individuals had won up to $8,000,000,000 in contracts to work in postwar Iraq and Afghanistan since their invasion.
According to the CPI's 2004 study, which can be found at www.pentagonspending.org,
no-bid contracts accounted for more than 40% of pentagon contracts, amounting to some $362,000,000,000 to companies without competitive bidding.
Fully half the defense budget since 1998, some $900,000,000,000 has gone to private contractors rather than the American military
The 10 biggest defense contractors spent a combined $35,700,000 on campaign contributions between 1998 and 2003 and
$414,600,000 on lobbying.
Their return on that investment was $340,000,000,000
According to the CPI's LobbyWatch project's findings,
since 1998 lobbyists have reported spending $13,000,000,000 to influence members of congress and federal officials
Of the $13 billion, $600,000,000 was tax and tuition dollars spent by states, local government and universities.
In 2003 alone, lobbyists spent $2,400,000,000.
Since 1998, the amount spent to influence federal lawmakers is double the amount spent to elect them.
Nearly 250 former members of congress and agency heads are active lobbyists and more than 2000 lobbyists used to work in senior government positions.
The fact is that it doesn't matter which party is in power. So long as the culture of corruption persists, leadership will remain weak and anemic on both sides and the politics of mi$placed priorities will continue to distract the public from the criminal incompetence and cronyism corrupting our country today.
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