"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Half of all Americans believe most members of Congress are corrupt -- a figure that has risen 12 points since the start of the year -- and more than a third think their own representative is crooked, according to a new poll released Thursday by CNN.
According to the poll, a majority disapproves of how both parties are handling their jobs in Congress. Just 42 percent approve of how the Democrats are doing in Congress, while 54 percent disapprove. The GOP fares even worse -- only 36 percent approve of their performance in Congress, while 61 percent disapprove.
Pollsters from Opinion Research Corp. interviewed 1,012 Americans from Friday through Sunday. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
In January, 22 percent of those polled said they believed their own member of Congress was corrupt, a number that has jumped to 36 percent since then.
The dismal ratings come almost three weeks before midterm elections will give voters a chance to either change the face of the legislative body or leave it the way it is.
But Americans are squeamish about electronic voting machines as they prepare to head for the polls. Sixty-one percent say they expect inaccurate results because of technical glitches, while two-thirds say it is likely that hackers or political operatives will prevent the machines from producing an accurate count.
Asked how confident they are that their own vote will be counted accurately, 44 percent of poll respondents said they were very confident and 36 percent said they were somewhat confident.
But looking at the nation as a whole, only 31 percent of respondents said they had complete confidence in an accurate vote count, along with 47 percent who said they were somewhat confident."
What infuriates me about this article is that most Americans, even if they do think thier elected official is crooked or they hate the electronic poll machines, is that they wont go out to vote anyway! Jeez... At any rate, I think it's a general idea that people think politicians are dishonest and shady... isn't that the stereotype for politicians and lawyers? At any rate, I think my mayor is doing a fine job, but what do you all think?? Are you one of the majority? Are we just not trusting enough of our representatives, or are they just not giving us enough positive progress?? I think both would be accurate reasons why we dont trust them anymore... so would you vote for someone new just because you dont trust the current guy? Regardless of party affiliation? You see a lot of that going around, and there was definitely a good deal of it in the 2004 elections. Admittedly, I really didn't care for Kerry, but who wants Bush in the Commander's chair?? Seriously... What do you all think??
while i in no way like bush, i cant say that i hate him either
he's a little bit too much of a pawn for my liking... but i think you oughtta do some research on how donald rumsfeld and dick cheney have been playing marionettes for... oh say 6 years now... its interesting stuff
toodles!