Poll Shows McConnell, Paul With Majority Approval Ratings

A majority of Kentucky voters approve of the jobs that Republican U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul are doing in Washington, according to a new Bluegrass Poll.

The poll shows McConnell, who is running for re-election in two years, holding a 51 percent job approval rating among likely voters with 42 percent disapproving of the GOP leader's performance. Similarly, Paul has a 53 percent approval but a slightly lower disapproval rating at 38 percent almost two years after being elected.

As The Courier-Journal's James Carroll reports, political observers argue that this bodes well for both lawmakers when considering the historic low numbers for Congress overall.

From The Courier-J:

The poll numbers for McConnell and Paul indicate no potential re-election problems, said Jennifer Duffy, a Senate analyst with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

“Any member who can get over 50 percent now is doing great,” she said. “Remember, Congress has a job approval rating of 12 (percent). … This is not a beloved group of people.”

McConnell's critics are likely to highlight that nearly a third of Kentuckians "strongly disapprove" of his job performance at 28 percent and that a critical 7 percent are undecided about his role.