Throw the bums out! That’s the message 60 percent of Americans are sending to Washington in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, saying if they had the chance to vote to defeat and replace every single member of Congress, including their own representative, they would.
The 60 percent figure is the highest ever that question was recorded in the poll, registered in the wake of the government shutdown and threat of the U.S. defaulting on its debt for the first time in history.
CLICK HERE to read the full poll(PDF).
The numbers reflect a broader trend over the last few years. Americans have traditionally said that while they might not like Congress, they usually liked their own representatives. But that sentiment appears to have shifted.
The throw-them-all-out attitude has slowly taken hold over the last three years, coinciding with two things, the rise of the Tea Party caucus in the House and the debt ceiling fight of 2011.
The number of Americans who say they want to fire everyone is fairly consistent among most groups but it spikes among rural voters (70 percent), white independents (70 percent) and those in Republican-held congressional districts (67 percent). Just 52 percent of respondents in Democratic-held districts would vote to fire every lawmaker on Capitol Hill.
In another sign of dissatisfaction with the state of politics, 47 percent of Americans said they do not strongly identify with either party.
Democratic pollster Fred Yang, who helped conduct the poll with Peter Hart (Peter D. Hart Research Associates), added that Americans are paying attention to this fight and want it resolved before the debt ceiling deadline of Oct. 17.
“This isn’t the calm before the storm,” Yang said. “This is the storm before the storm.”.
Hart points out that the seeds are there to give rise to independent or third-party candidates. According to Hart, “Somewhere, someone’s going to pick up and run with the ‘throw them all out’” banner.
GALLUP POLL - Need for Third Party Reaches New High
Amid the government shutdown, 60% of Americans say the Democratic and Republicans parties do such a poor job of representing the American people that a third major party is needed. That is the highest Gallup has measured in the 10-year history of this question. A new low of 26% believe the two major parties adequately represent Americans.
The prior highs in perceived need for a third party came in August 2010, shortly before that year's midterm elections, when Americans were dissatisfied with government and the Tea Party movement was emerging as a political force; and in 2007, when the newly elected Democratic congressional majority was clashing with then-President George W. Bush.
Republicans (52%) and Democrats (49%) are similar in their perceptions that a third party is needed. In fact, this marks the first time that a majority of either party's supporters have said a third party is needed.
As would be expected, a majority of independents, those who profess no initial allegiance to either party, have always said the U.S. needs a third party. Seventy-one percent currently hold that view, which has been exceeded twice before, in 2007 and 2010.
Given the inability of the Republican and Democratic parties to agree on the most basic of government functions, passing an annual budget to pay for federal programs, it is perhaps not surprising that the percentage of Americans who believe a third party is needed has never been higher.
However, the desire for a third party is not sufficient to ensure there will be one. Structural factors in the U.S. election system and the parties' own abilities to adapt to changing public preferences have helped the Republican and Democratic parties to remain the dominant parties in U.S. government for more than 150 years. Third parties that have emerged to challenge their dominance have not been able to sustain any degree of electoral success.
Maybe it is time for congressional term limits.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
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