Poll: Government Doing Poor Job

Americans can’t say much good about their government, except for its military might and its weather reports.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Southern Life Poll found that nearly 80 percent of us currently think the federal government is doing a poor or only fair job of managing the country.

Barely one person in three could come up with anyone at all to admire in public life, let alone in Washington. Fewer than a third would consider running for Congress, even if guaranteed a win.

The poll was conducted in February and March, before discontent with the federal government apparently took a violent, fiery turn in Oklahoma City. The poll sampled 1,078 Southerners and 507 persons outside the South.

Among 15 federal agencies listed in the poll, only the armed forces and the National Weather Service floated above the prevailing cynicism. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta earned a passing grade. So did the Post Office, for decades the butt of political jokes.

And despite last fall’s housecleaning on Capitol Hill, most of the country still distrusts Congress. Only 22 percent think it is doing a decent job.