Congress is a Drag on Favorability Ratings for 2012 Republicans

A Suffok University poll illustrates the problem facing 2012 Republican Presidential candidates. Most of them come out of state government, but what is happening in Congress is dragging them down.

Is your opinion generally favorable or unfavorable?

Democrats:	Favorable	Unfavorable	Heard of/ Undecided	Never Heard of
Hillary Clinton	59%	33%	8%	0%
Barack Obama	51%	42%	6%	0%
Joe Biden	44%	41%	13%	2%
Harry Reid	18%	40%	23%	19%
Republicans:
Mike Huckabee	41%	30%	23%	5%
Mitt Romney	39%	32%	23%	6%
Tim Pawlenty	18%	16%	28%	38%
John Boehner	26%	30%	23%	20%
Michele Bachman	20%	28%	22%	30%
Mitch Daniels	10%	14%	30%	46%
Rick Santorum	15%	21%	26%	39%
Ron Paul	24%	34%	25%	17%
Newt Gingrich	29%	50%	18%	3%
Sarah Palin	31%	58%	11%	0%
Donald Trump	18%	70%	12%	0%

This poll was taken while Newt-Trump were organizing the Wet Raccoon Club. The high unfavorables show why Sarah Palin probably won't run despite having the fire in the belly for it. Any it shows why Mitch Daniels, the guy no one has heard of, dropped out.

That explains the bottom of the list but what about the middle of the list? To understand that you must look at Reid and Boehner and the job approval ratings for Congress relative to President Obama.

Job Approval:	Approve	Disapprove	Undecided
President Obama	47%	45%	8%
Congress	12%	72%	16%

That's a pretty big gap. The old saw is that everyone hates Congress but loves their own Congressman. But with Republicans in control of the agenda in Congress after winning back the House in the last election, it apears the President has let them crawl out on a limb and is now sawing it off.