If given the chance, nearly nine out of ten Tea Party members would vote out every single member of Congress, a new poll found.
The results of the Rasmussen poll, released Thursday, show that it’s not just Democrats who are drawing the ire of voters and confirms the views of Republican leaders who have warned their party that they can’t return to business as usual when they return to Washington in stronger numbers next year.
Overall, nearly two-thirds of Americans would like to fire everybody in Congress, the poll found. One in five respondents said every Member of Congress should stay on and 15 percent are undecided on the issue.
The discontent is strongest among self-identified Tea Party members, 88 percent of whom want to throw out Congress in its entirety and start with a fresh group of lawmakers.
Republicans and those unaffiliated with either major party are not far behind in their disapproval of the current crop of Members of Congress with 82 percent and 78 percent, respectively, of them wanting to vote out everyone.
Democrats are the only group relatively split on the issue. Forty-four percent would keep Congress, while 38 percent would vote everyone out.
The problem with incumbents is not based on their political affiliation. Fifty-three percent of voters have an unfavorable opinion of Democrats, but an almost equal number, 54 percent, feel that way about Republicans.
Within the parties, however, Republicans are less favorably inclined towards their representatives in Congress. Sixty-one percent of Republicans have a favorable opinion of the party, while 76 percent of Democrats have a favorable view of their party.
The poll also found that 91 percent of Tea Party members dislike the Democratic Party. Their view of the GOP is much better with 56 percent holding a favorable view of Republicans.
A majority of voters, 61 percent, would grade Congress as doing a “poor” job, and about the same number, 62 percent, “believe that no matter how bad things are, Congress can always make them worse.”