PPP surprise; Congress more popular than the clap

The people over at Public Policy Polling must have been having a moment of whimsy when planning this poll of Congress Vs a series of unpopular people, creatures, diseases, and countries such as France and North Korea.  (NK lost, France won.)

 

On the other hand they were less popular than cockroaches  although this is not all that surprising.  While both are rather odious, cockroaches are easier to get rid of, and don’t expect the public to comply with their wishes.  Donald Trump and Genghis Khan were also more popular, but both were inside the margin of error for the poll: 

Facing low approval ratings after a historically unproductive 112th session and a series of last-minute showdowns over fiscal matters, Congress is now less popular than root canals, NFL replacement referees, head lice, the rock band Nickelback, colonoscopies, carnies, traffic jams, cockroaches, Donald Trump, France, Genghis Khan, used-car salesmen and Brussel sprouts. 

 When asked if they have a higher opinion of either Congress or a series of unpleasant or disliked things, voters said they had a higher opinion of root canals (32 for Congress and 56 for the dental procedure), NFL replacement refs (29-56), head lice (19-67), the rock band Nickelback (32-39), colonoscopies (31-58), Washington DC political pundits (34- 37), carnies (31-39), traffic jams (34-56), cockroaches (43-45), Donald Trump (42-44), France (37-46), Genghis Khan (37-41), used-car salesmen (32-57), and Brussels sprouts (23-69) than Congress. 

 Congress did manage to beat out telemarketers (45-35), John Edwards (45-29), the Kardashians (49-36), lobbyists (48-30), North Korea (61-26), the ebola virus (53-25), Lindsay Lohan (45-41), Fidel Castro (54-32), playground bullies (43-38), meth labs (60- 21), communism (57-23), and gonorrhea (53-28). 

 Congress’s overall favorability rating stands at just 9% favorable and 85% unfavorable. Women (13-81) view Congress slightly more favorably than men (6-89), as do Democrats (13-82) than Republicans (9-87), perhaps reflecting Democrats’ higher level of satisfaction with the recent fiscal cliff deal. ...

It is reasonable to suspect that respondents had a little fun with this one and that it should not be taken too seriously.  It is doubtful after all that Americans would prefer Pelosi to Lindsay Lohan, or Wassermann Shultz to Kim Kardashian.