Poll: Few Calif. Voters Approve of Congress’ Health Care Work

About 69% of California voters disapprove of the way Congress is handling health care reform legislation, while about 23% of voters approve, according to a new Field Poll, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

The poll found that voters from all parties generally had unfavorable views of Congress' health care performance. Voters who support the way Congress is handling health care include:

• 10% of Republicans;
• 23% of unaffiliated voters; and
• 33% of Democrats.

Overall Job Performance for Congress, Pelosi

The poll also found that only about 24% of California voters approve of Congress' overall job performance. Voters who had positive views of Congress' performance include:

• 10% of Republicans;
• 24% of unaffiliated voters; and
• 35% of Democrats (Marelius, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/27).

The latest scores are some of Congress' lowest approval ratings since Field Poll began conducting such surveys 18 years ago.

The poll also found that many California voters have negative views on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). About 46% of voters said they disapprove of Pelosi's job performance, compared with 39% who approve.

Still a Blue State?

Despite the low approval ratings for the Democrat-controlled Congress's, California voters still appear to lean toward the Democratic Party.

The poll found that 50% of voters said they would support a Democrat in their congressional district, compared with 32% who said they would vote for a Republican (Hotakainen, McClatchy/Sacramento Bee, 1/27).

Methodology

For the Field Poll, investigators conducted telephone interviews with 1,232 registered state voters between Jan. 5 and Jan. 17.