Iraq Funding Impasse Bringing Down Approval Ratings for Democrats

The Washington Post political blog Capitol Briefing notes that a WaPo-ABC poll released Friday shows approval/disapproval ratings for Congressional Democrats fell from 54/44 to 44/49 over the last six weeks, and attributes the reversal to Democrats' inability to force Bush to change course on Iraq. The drop results as much from a decline in support from Independents (from 49/48 to 37/54) as among the anti-war liberal base (85% approval down to 67% approval). Bush's ratings remain mired at 35/62 and congressional Republicans are in lock-step at 36/58.

I think that frustration over Iraq is a big part of the change, but I also think it is not the whole story. Particularly among Independents, I suspect that the Democrats' slow pace on ethics reform is probably a huge factor as well. I would not want to see the Democrats re-focus on Iraq to the exclusion of other priorities, even if the prospects for shortening the war were brighter than they are. Congressional Democrats should be out front on ethics reform, not dragged along by GOP maneuvering and negative headlines.