November 22, 2014 6:52 AM
Odds and Ends
36% of the American public now give the Democratic Party a favorable rating, a drop of 6% points since the election. This is the lowest rating recorded by Gallup going back to 1994.The Republican Party has a post-election approval rating of 42%, up from a late 2013 approval rating of 28%.
53% now want the Republicans in Congress to set the nation’s course for the next year, as opposed to 36% who want that role for President Obama. [Gallup]
In early November, Americans believed the most important issues the country is facing were: Economy in general – 28%; Dissatisfaction with government – 19%; Immigration/illegal aliens – 13%; and Unemployment/Jobs – 12%. Healthcare is selected by 7%. [Gallup]
The presiding officer in the United States Senate is always a member of the Majority party in the Senate, except when the Vice President of the United States decides to preside.
With Republicans in the majority when the Senate convenes in 2015, they will preside. Of the 53 Republicans whose election is now assured, 63% have not been in the Senate long enough to have presided when the Republicans were last in the majority. While those watching from the outside might see the time presiding as relatively boring, it provides an opportunity for those presiding to interact with the Parliamentarian and other Senate officers (they are not Senators), and to learn the rules and ways of the Senate.
