Pelosi had some high words coming into Congress but ran a very divisive game, public approval for Congress slipped to below that of President Bush (Congress at 14%, Bush at 30%) and now, she is spinning her little way out of it.
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Pelosi lays blame for missed goals on SenateI had written about the Congressional effectiveness last June 3rd: The achievements of the 110th Congress Time to clean house and get some fresh faces working for us... I am seriously looking at voting anti-incumbent next election.
The problem for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn't just President Bush.
It's the Senate.
Pelosi sounded more apologetic than celebratory Friday when she announced with her Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democrats' list of accomplishments six months after they seized control of Capitol Hill and promised "a new direction" in Washington.
"I'm not happy with Congress, either," Pelosi, of San Francisco, conceded.
She pinned the blame on "the obstructionism of the Republicans in the United States Senate."
Immigration has joined Iraq, stem cell research, Medicare drug pricing, the 9/11 Commission's recommendations and other promises in the dustbin of the current Congress. Heading into a July Fourth recess after a bruising failure on immigration, Congress has a public approval rating in the mid-20s, lower than Bush's and no better than Republicans' ratings on the eve of their catastrophic election defeat in November, when the GOP lost control of the Senate and the House.
