Poll: voters down on Congress

The U.S. Capitol
Only 14 percent of those polled approve of the job Congress is doing.
Photo by PAUL J.RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

The telephone survey of 625 registered voters found 70 percent disapprove of the job performance of the Republican-controlled Congress, while 14 percent approve. Sixteen percent said they weren't sure.

Republicans were less negative in their assessment, with just over half saying they disapproved. Among DFL respondents, 84 percent disapproved, compared to 73 percent of those calling themselves independents.

On a related question, 40 percent of those surveyed said the Mark Foley scandal would be somewhat important or very important to the way they vote on November 7th.

A similar percentage said they thought House Speaker Dennis Hastert should step down over the way he handled the Foley scandal. Thirty-one percent said he should remain, and 28 percent were not sure.

The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.