Only 17% Say U.S. Government Has Consent of the Governed

Washington's Blog

I noted in February 2010 that only 21% of Americans believed that the U.S. government had the "consent of the governed".

Only 17% Say U.S. Government Has Consent of the Governed

That number has now fallen to 17%:

Fewer voters than ever feel the federal government has the consent of the governed.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 17% of Likely U.S. Voters think the federal government today has the consent of the governed.

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The number of voters who feel the government has the consent of the governed - a foundational principle, contained in the Declaration of Independence - is down ... to its lowest level measured yet.

Only 6% Approve of Congress ... Many Convinced They are "Crooks"

The poll notes that voters are very wary of Congress:

Voter approval of the job Congress is doing has fallen to a new low - for the second month in a row. Only six percent (6%) now rate Congress' performance as good or excellent.

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Voters also are more convinced than ever that most congressmen are crooks .

America Sentiment is "Pre-Revolutionary"

As Yves Smith points out:

Pollster Pat Caddell said via-email “unprecedented…pre-revolutionary.”

While such language is dramatic, indeed, it is not time Caddell has used it.

Last November, the National Review reported:

In Jimmy Carter’s White House, Patrick Caddell was, in the words of Teddy White, the “house Cassandra” — an all-too-candid pollster whose prophecies spooked the president’s other advisors.

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In 1979, as Carter’s poll numbers slid south amidst a sagging economy, Caddell drafted a memo to the president urging him to recognize that the nation was “deep in crisis.” Gazing upon today’s electoral landscape, Caddell paints an even bleaker picture. “We may be at a pre-revolutionary moment,” he says, unsmiling. “Everything is in motion.”