Broder Disses House Democrats

David Broder, resident right-wing columnist at The Washington Post, is dissing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over her list of accomplishments. He tells her to "get real" because their approval rating is below that of the Republicans as they were being voted out. What Broder fails to mention is that many voters went with the Democrats because of the Iraq war and, to a lesser extent, to impeach the worst president in American history. Peolosi and the rest of her leadership team took impeachment off the table and gave George Bush everything he wanted for this Imperial Oil War in Iraq. This is why the approval rating is down, Mr. Broder.

After one year of Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, public approval ratings for Congress have sunk below their level when Republicans were still in control. A Post poll this month put the approval score at 32 percent, the disapproval at 60.

In the last such survey during Republican control, congressional approval was 36 percent. So what are the Democrats to make of that? They could be using this interregnum before the start of their second year to evaluate their strategy and improve their standing. But if Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House and leader of their new majority, is to be believed, they are, instead, going to brag about their achievements.

In a year-end "fact sheet," her office proclaimed that "the Democratic-led House is listening to the American people and providing the New Direction the people voted for in November. The House has passed a wide range of measures to make America safer, restore the American dream and restore accountability. We are proud of the progress made this session and recognize that more needs to be done."

While surveys by The Post and other news organizations show that the public believes little or nothing of value has been accomplished in a year of bitter partisan wrangling on Capitol Hill, Pelosi claims that "the House has had a remarkable level of achievement over the first year, passing 130 key measures -- with nearly 70 percent passing with significant bipartisan support."