(Image source: Gallup)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

You're watching multisource politics news analysis from Newsy.

13 is an unlucky number -- and for Congress -- it’s historic, too.

A new Gallup poll has Americans’ approval of Congress at 13 percent -- that’s a tie for a historic low.

As USA Today points out  -- Congress has never been a fan favorite -- but this is taking it to a whole new level. genius!

“Americans have never really been that keen on Congress, giving lawmakers an average approval rating of about 34% since Gallup first began polling on this question in 1974. Over time, the numbers for Congress have gone from bad to worse with an average of 19% approval in 2008, 2010 and so far in 2011.”

So to borrow from former president Harry Truman -- a no-good “do-nothing” Congress. That message -- MSNBC’s Chuck Todd reports -- is gonna be part of President Obama’s reelection strategy.

“He wants to be aggressive with Congress, not quite ready to engage fully with the Republican presidential field, but instead make the foil Congress. Look, the numbers don't lie, we saw in that same Gallup poll that's shown the president as low as 39% job approval, it's up to 41 today, that's three times higher than the job approval rating of Congress.”
 

And he’s already put that strategy to work -- if a town hall in Minnesota Monday is any indication.

“There is nothing wrong with America that can’t be fixed. What’s broken is our politics. … There is no shortage of ideas to put people to work right now. What is needed is action on the part of Congress. A willingness to put the partisan games aside...”

But whether running against Congress will work -- writes The Daily Caller’s Neil Munro -- is still up in the air.

“The GOP nominee has not been selected... Also, Obama failed to get Republicans in Congress to approve a tax-boosting ‘Grand Bargain’ during the debt ceiling talks... Truman’s ‘do nothing’ claim stuck, partly because the country was in a postwar recession.”

 

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