Good thing the ballot choices for the Nov. 2 national midterm elections don’t include “None of the Above.”

Or voters would turn Congress upside down.

That’s because a new Gallup poll out Wednesday finds barely one in three Americans approve of the job being done in Congress by either party — 32% approval for Republicans and 33% for Democrats.

Gallup finds the parties’ ratings near the low end of what they’ve been historically — the 30% bottom for Democrats in December 2007, 11 months after they took control of both houses; and the 25% for Republicans in December 2008 at the end of you-know-who’s eight years of policies.


Since the start of President Obama’s term in early 2009, the Democrats’ ratings have been sliding downward while the usually lower GOP ratings have remained low but steady.

According to Gallup’s analysis, this new poll should temper GOP joy over its recent rise on the generic congressional ballot. This is not because voters have become fond of Republican policies, whatever they are, but because voters don’t like what Democrats have been doing — and if you don’t like McDonald’s in American politics, there’s only Burger King to choose from. Not counting those who opt for the Librarian Party. (Just checking whether you’re reading closely; we meant Libertarian.)

Nor are voters liking much of what any incumbent is doing.

So might this broad bipartisan disaffection smother the turnout come Nov. 2?


Also on Wednesday a Gallup poll on the generic congressional ballot found the two parties tied, in marked contrast to other recent polls showing a widening Republican lead in party preference.

andrew.malcolm@latimes.com

Top of the Ticket, The Times’ blog on national politics ( https://www.latimes.com/ticket is a blend of commentary, analysis and news. These are selections from the last week.