New Jersey’s opinions of the president, its senators and congressmen are basically positive, although Barack Obama’s ratings have dipped. The latest Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Press Media Poll also finds that the Garden State has grown increasingly dissatisfied with the national government, but doubt a change in congressional leadership would make any difference.
Only 24% of New Jersey residents are satisfied with the way things are going in Washington, while 2-in-3 (66%) are dissatisfied. Satisfaction is at its lowest level since the new administration took office last year. Large numbers of Republicans (87%) and independents (75%) express dissatisfaction with DC. Even Democrats are now more likely to be dissatisfied (47%) rather than satisfied (40%) – which is a first for New Jersey Democrats since Obama took office.
At the same time, most (51%) New Jerseyans doubt that changing party control of Congress would improve the situation. Among the rest, 22% prefer to see the Republicans in control of the nation’s legislative branch while an identical 22% prefer the Democrats. Only Republicans think that the country would be better off with their party in control (63%), while another 35% say it wouldn’t matter. Most independents (62%) think the country would be pretty much the same regardless of which party is in power, while the remainder split their preferences between Republican (19%) and Democratic (14%) control. Interestingly, even New Jersey Democrats are more likely to say that party control of Congress doesn’t matter much (50%) rather than being better off with their own party in control (43%)
