Poll indicates continued anger at Congress

WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- A poll indicates U.S. citizens have a low opinion of the Democratic-run Congress, and yet say by a record margin they want more Democrats in government.

The seemingly contradictory results were indicated in a Wall Street Journal/NBC News Poll released Tuesday. Experts explained the disconnect could reflect not so much anger at Democrats who have controlled Congress for more than year, but disapproval of President George Bush, whom many mistakenly believe still sets Congress' agenda as he did when Republicans were in charge on Capitol Hill.

Only 13 percent of poll respondents said they approved of the job Congress is doing, the lowest mark Congress has received in nearly two decades of the Journal/NBC News poll. At the same time, 52 percent said they would rather see Democrats run Congress, compared with 33 percent favoring Republicans, a record margin for either party in a poll question that has been asked since 1994.

Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster whom the Wall Street Journal said co-directs the Journal/NBC News survey, explained the discrepancy by saying that voters "still believe that President Bush is calling the shots, not Congress."