Poll: Voters prefer hemorrhoids over Congress

Catalina Camia | USA TODAY

It's no surprise these days that Congress isn't very popular, but a new poll says voters have a higher opinion of witches, hemorrhoids and jury duty than their lawmakers in Washington.

Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning firm based in North Carolina, asked a series of questions trying to gauge support for Congress compared with government-run institutions such as the Internal Revenue Service, health problems such as toenail fungus, cockroaches and dog poop.

The findings may surprise some lawmakers in Washington, who are deadlocked over how to reopen the federal government after eight days of shutdown.

Voters say they have a higher opinion of hemorrhoids than Congress, by 53% to 31%. More than seven in 10 voters say they view jury duty more favorably than Congress, which musters only 18% support in that comparison. Even toenail fungus rates 3 percentage points higher Congress.

Overall, voters in PPP's telephone poll gave Congress an 8% approval rating. Nearly nine in 10 voters, or 86%, say they disapprove of Congress — which is in line with a recent CNN survey.

"Congress having an 8% approval rating tells us one thing about how unhappy voters are," said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. "But it's even more telling that voters have a lower opinion of it than annoyances like the DMV and jury duty, health issues like hemorrhoids, and even witches."

Some bold-faced names making headlines should take note, however. The poll says voters prefer Congress over Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan, Vladimir Putin and Anthony Weiner.

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