Congress is not a person. The country, as a whole, does not vote for a person by the name of "Congress". My parents vote for their congressman in southern Virginia. My wife and I vote for our congressman in Alexandria, VA. I think, mostly, that my congressman has done an okay job. Given that I will be faced between the choice of him and a Republican, I will vote for him again. My parents dislike their congressman (because he's a Republican) and will vote against him. He will probably be reelected, though, because most other people in their district vote Republican. My point is that these polls are asking the wrong question. Most people like their own Congressional Representative (that's how he/she got elected) but dislike everyone else's. Unfortunately, I don't get to vote for or against any other Congressional Rep other than my own. These shallow headlines that proclaim, "HEY LOOK HOW MUCH PEOPLE HATE CONGRESS" also don't clarify that those poll numbers are likely to have zero major impact on the next Congressional election. Instead, the issues that directly (whether real or perceived) affected each district will be what the voters use to base their votes on. When you see headlines that proclaim how low Congress's approval rating has dropped, stop to ask yourself if you think your own representative is likely to get re-elected or not. I'm willing to bet that for the most of you, they will.