Well since I live in Mid-America I have done some polling of my own. The polls you seem to quote must not be taken fairly, because I am in contact with a fairly large number of people on a daily basis from all over the US and none of them nor anyone else they know has ever taken a poll by CNN. I think your poll is a load of hooey.

"According to the poll, 57 percent of Americans deem Bush's presidency a "failure," while 55 percent say the same for the Democratic Congress. Meanwhile, 40 percent call Bush's presidency a success, while only 37 percent give that mark to Congress"

Polls like this are useless and are designed to give networks something to spin.

The only poll that matters is the one taken on November 8th - election day.

I think that many people had unrealistic expectations that with the Democratic takeover of Congress that meant that we would immediately get out of the unnecessary war of choice in Iraq, but with a President that is not willing to listen to the will of the people, and stick to the current failed policy, redeploying out of Iraq is going to take time.

The American public wants troops to start leaving Iraq, but they also want to fund the troops while they are there, so it is a tricky situation.

As the Democrats prod the President to change course in Iraq, and as they pass more legislation, such as a minimum wage increase, implementation of the 9/11 report, ethics reform, school loan reform etc., the public will have a clear choice between moving forward or sticking with the same failed policies of the last six and a half years, and I'm your the decision will return a Democrat to the White House.

My guess is there’s a big difference between these two results, but you’d have to go deeper inside the numbers to see it.

The president is unpopular because he presides over one of the most irresponsible and incompetent administrations in American history.

The Congress is unpopular because they lack a sufficient majority to stop the President.

A Democratic sweep in 2008 would solve both problems.

Ha ha ha.. well, at least the da Prez didnt call the congress dumb. How pathetic can this guy get

Hmm, two parties..near 50% of the country think those in power from both parties are a failure.

Still think a third party is a wasted vote?

Problem with POLLS are that not to many REP. take polls at CNN. You are only really getting a majority DEM. response esp. online when people can re-poll with different emails
,different names or how ever anyone could re-poll more than once.
POLLS are not good.
After how many years with Bush people now are losing confidence. and after how many months people losing confidance with Dem. congress. WOW…
But yet like i said its someones poll….
C'mon Giulini ……
oops that was the last Article..haha

Polls also say that John Kerry won the election and we see how that turned out.

Unfortunately all these people polled also believe their politician is not part of the problem so it isn't like anything major will change anytime soon.

Maybe when oil hits $100+, all our oil refineries are shut down, corn hits $10 a bushel, and were all using pogo sticks to get around things may just change. But until then the politicians will just keep up taking their cut of the pork and increasing the size of the bloated and corrupt government.

I thought I'd never say this, but Dick Cheney was right– in his 1994 assessment of why we should not invade Iraq. See the video at:
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2879&id=10983-3995432-y2Y4iV&t=2

How can congress do anything? The president without a brain keeps vetoing. Wah, if I don't get my way, I'll impeach. What a moron. Maybe with stem cell research, he might get an injecton of glial cells. Impeach the jerk.

I like how Barney and his pet both are sticking their tongues out for the camera. Is that a euphemism for what they think about the will of the people?

Just a thought. Talk amongst yourselves.

What a huge suprise? A congress that does not have the guts and a President that seems to think that he is the supreme rules of the land, tell me something I don't know!

So you are essentially saying that Americans think Bush is bad but that the Dem Congress is worse? Fabulous reporting. Very fair and balanced(tm). CNN should pat itself on its back. The Dem Congress hasn't fulfilled its goal to stop the Iraq adventure that Bush lied our country into. Maybe that should be your story, dangling proposition and all.

Historians are just going to love Bush II. After all, what can you say about Clinton? When he left office, the USA was at it's zenith in every measure. They will look back and debate (much like global warming) whether anything could have been done to prevent the decline of our influence and wealth as a nation, or was it inevitable? Was he brilliant while only affecting the demeanor of a bumpkin, or was he really just a fool? Was he only a tool of the wealthy and powerful, or did he have some grand social scheme in mind which required a bifurcation of class based on wealth and education? Was he an ideologue riding the tide of reactionary social trends which are sweeping the globe, or did he alone have the true vision of the path the USA must follow to avoid becoming just like Lebanon?

Although it is mean to find a lesson in suffering, I think that we should thank George W. Bush for disabusing us of the illusion that the USA is a perfect democracy. He has shown us how frail our democratic institutions truly are, and how their promise can be swept away if they are not defended at every turn with vigor. Just as we turn on the light switch taking electricity for granted, we are too often lulled into a false sense of security while reflecting upon some genius of our founders for discovering the perfect balance of institutionalized democracy which will provide us with freedom without asking for any sacrifice beyond paying our taxes.

"The poll, conducted August 6-8, includes interviews of 1,029 Americans"

HALF OF WHICH DO NOT VOTE!
Rendering their opinions irrelevant as well as this CNN/Opinion Research poll. Its nothing more than corporate sponsored political partisanship. Exactly what we're becoming accustom to finding on this moderated media.

VOTE INDEPENDENT!!

Bush doesn't have direction. I don't really care for political party or sides, I care simply for an authentically US/World interested president who is willing to put the nation's good before his/her own.

Who are these people being polled. No one has ever spoken to me or called me for my opinion and I am 55 years old.

WAS A POLL ACTUALLY NECESSARY TO COME TO THESE DETERMINATIONS? I THINK MY 7 YEAR OLD NIECE COULD HAVE POSTED THIS GROUNDBREAKING INFORMATION. LET ME KNOW WHEN CONGRESS DECIDEDS TO IMPEACH THE LEADER.

I believe all Americans that vote should support who ever wins the race, I support my President and his staff, as I will support the next. I am sorry that so many Americans spend so much time slandering our Government. I have to wonder if any of them really listen to what is going on , what the leaders of other countries are asking of us????? It appears from what is said here at home, they do not! Wake up America! We are not helping anyone anywhere in the world that we have not been begged to help,,, and stay!!!!

Ignore the polls..they are designed to influence the opinions of the overall population….

This is just a reflection of the temporal mood of the American people. It will probably stay that way until Bush leaves office. Once hes gone, the mood will return to normal.

I'd have to agree that this poll seems a bit irregular compared to many other polls citing Bush's rating being so low. Who were these 40% approving of his presidency? If I were CNN, I would be checking the validity of the poll.

And the Congress not inspiring a great deal of confidence is to be expected when you have a slim margin and a veto threatening president thats off his rocker. It's not as though the Democratic led Congress can get anywhere when they only have a one person margin in the Senate and the House is so divided in both parties.

The Democrats just got the majority this year and is dealing with a highly obstructionist minority. What else would you expect?

Telling it like I see it,
Wynter

Notice the new poll uses the term "Democratically-controlled Congress".

Other polls ask the same questions about "Congress" and recieve the lowest rating ever recorded…, some as low as 14%.

So what does CNN do? Find out why we're not happy?? Nooooo, they change the question, of course! Another feable attempt at blunting the impact of the term "bigger failure than Bush" on the political party they openly support.

"But politics is a zero-sum game," notes CNN Polling Director Keeting Holland.

It appears Mr. Holland has a bipartisan view of the world and cannot admit to an alternative. All the poll says is that Democrats and Republicans are failing in DC.

There are intibipartisan alternatives such as Libertarians, Greens, Reformers and many others. Perhaps it is time to start looking at who Americans might have confidence instead of sticking to the bipartisan script that there are no alternatives to the consistent failures of the democrats and republicans.

Paper tigers(Democrats) and a sinking ship(Republicans).
God help us!

What can we say about Clinton? We can say he gave nuclear material to NK and a 1996 Senate report said NK was building nukes. Albright admmited that. We can say Clinton had three chances at Bin Laden and never took them - he admiited that. There was no surplus - key people from his administration admitted that. Unconsitutional spying on political opponents - remember how Hillary claimed she lost them for a year and then found them on the coffee table? Yeah, Clinton was a great President.

Historians are just going to love Bush II. After all, what can you say about Clinton? When he left office, the USA was at it's zenith in every measure.
–Posted By Bill Evanikoff,

History already states that the recession started in late 2000, Clinton's last year in office. It also says that the recession was mainly the result of a consumer confidence collapse due to exuberant stock pricing and over taxation policies. Yeah, thats history. Try watching the nonpartisan documentaries sometimes, reality is better than fiction..

George Bush is a failure, period.

On the other hand, the Congress is considered a "failure" because it has failed to change George Bush on issues (e.g., Iraq withdrawal), because of his veto power, etc.

The americans can only blame themselves in electing George Bush to be president in 2000 and 2004.

Let's not forget that Congress has been controlled by Democrats only since January. In all the years of the Bush administration in which Republicans controlled Congress, nothing was done about this country's problems. It was pure negligence and cronyism. Moreover, the Republicans controlled Congress when Clinton was in the White House, and they did nothing but try to impeach him. Again, total negligence. We need people running the federal government who can tackle real-time practical problems faced by Americans everyday. No denials, no "moral" blather, no kickbacks, no sweetheart contracts paid for by taxpayers. It's going to take years to get us out of the hole that Bush and his handlers have dug for us.

Why would anyone give any credence to comments made by W's "mentor"? It is obvious that Karl Rove was given a White House position to attack and denigrate Bush's opposition.

It is clear, as well, that Rove is running from his position–and the continued scrutiny of Congress.

Bush and Rove and the polls are not to be believed.

So someone who wants to go after people
who believe this:
Verse 9:123 - "Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you."
Verse 47:3″When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield strike off their heads and, when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly."
Verse 48:29 - "Muhammad is Allah's apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another."
Verse 66:9 - "Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and deal sternly with them. Hell shall be their home, evil their fate."
verse 5:17 - "Unbelievers are those who declare: 'God is the Messiah, the son of Mary.'"
verse 5:51 - "Believers, take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends. They are friends with one another."
Verse 4:101 - "The unbelievers are your inveterate foe.
Bush is a fool huh, not going after them is foolish.
By the way Ron Paul the war is not unconstitutional they declared war on us.

Well seeing as how the only great accomplishments of the Demorcratic party during this time period was filibustering every piece of legislation they didn't particularly like, please do tell me how the Democrats are any better?

Get over it, they are all politicians and both sides are screwed up. I am sick of either side acting like the other is the problem with this country. Just because your the one pointing the finger doesn't make you any more innocent.

Saying "the Democratic Congress has been a failure" only measures people's opinion of what has been accomplished. It would be much more meaningful to ask "who do you blame for the failure of the Congress, the Democrats or the Republicans". Most people like what the Democrats are trying to accomplish and see how their lack of a veto proof majority hinders their progress. So believing the Congress has been a failure is not the same thing as believing the Democrats have been a failure. Why not ask the relevant questions if you're going to bother to poll at all?

WAKE UP PEOPLE - especially those who got worked up and posted on this topic. NOTICE ONLY 1,029 PEOPLE TOOK PART IN THIS POLL!!! That means nothing, you can't read anything from only 1,000 people, come on folks, don't be so quick to jump…

I think these polls are generally answered by people who are dissatisfied w/ their own lives, so they're saying it's the "government's fault". There's a lot of misdirected anger out there. Every day it's another person in the admininstration they're after. I love reading the comments on the blogs, but I don't wake up and think "Oh, that Karl Rove, he's really ruining my life!"

I wonder if there’s an overlap between those who don’t believe in polls and those who don’t believe in evolution. The sorry state of science education has left us with a populace who refuses to face facts. A lack of basic statistic skills explains why people play the lottery, or fear shark attacks more than driving on the freeway.

Polls are SAMPLES. You take a small scoop of flour out of the barrel and see if it’s got bugs in it. Of course there’s a margin of error, but scientific polling is still a highly accurate way of testing public opinion. Polls don’t guarantee that Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination, but they give you a pretty good idea that Mike Gravel won’t.

Oh, and for the record, I was called by a national poll a few years ago. But I’ve never been bit by a shark.

I agree………….a big fat F. For the two terms that Americans went dark!

Jessh what a goof ball. Bush with a five finger wave holding the only pal he has left, His Dog.

Even the Dog looks smarter than his master! And that certainly doesn't give much credit to the Canine.

And a big fat F for the two terms 1992-2000.