If thereís one group in Washington less popular than President Bush these days, it is Congress.
Recent polls show the approval ratings for the Democrat-controlled Congress at an all-time low of 24 percent ó 11 points lower than it was two months ago.

Granted, the president is not faring so well himself, with a 29 percent approval rating. But the people elected in a sweeping victory last November on the grounds that they would end the war in Iraq and fight Bushís domestic agenda are now even more unpopular than he is.
So what happened?

It seems the American people are tired of fighting ó on multiple fronts.

First and foremost, Americans are eager for the war in Iraq to end. This is especially true among Democrats, who elected the current Congress largely on a promise that it would end the war. So far little, if any, progress has been made on this front.

As a result, the greatest decline in support for the legislative branch has actually been among Democrats, many of whom see the failure of Congress to end the war as a fundamental betrayal.

But a second conflict is also straining support for the federal government at large ó the ongoing fighting between the two parties and, particularly, between the White House and Capitol Hill.
The two sides are clearly in a deadlock and neither has been willing to compromise on such fundamental issues as education, health care or the war.

At times, the fighting has been downright petty, with adolescent barbs being cast back and forth between the administration and upper-level Democratic officials.

Equally telling are poll results that show that while a large majority of people disapprove of Congressí performance, they also are not eager to switch parties. Americans, it would seem, are disgusted with the U.S. government as a whole, not just one party or the other.

Given that 79 percent of those surveyed said they think the U.S. is not on the right track, we feel it might be time for a serious re-evaluation of where we are headed politically.

While the president and Congress may disagree fundamentally on a number of issues, where there is a possibility for compromise, partisanship needs to be set aside.

Can you imagine if a company were run the same way, with interpersonal disputes creating such havoc that nearly 80 percent of shareholders thought the company was headed down the wrong path, while its CEO and board of directors remained paralyzed by deadlock?† Surely such an endeavor would be doomed to failure.

It is time for the two parties to stop acting like competing sports teams and start acting like the responsible civic servants we elected them to be.

And the Democratic Congress would do well to realize that if it wants to succeed at ending the war in Iraq, it needs to focus a little less on its own little war at home.