Legislators? We don't need no stinkin' legislators!

It's obviously poll week over at the Pioneer Press. Today's edition deals with the popularity of the Legislature in the wake of getting absolutely nothing accomplished this year. Unsurprisingly, the public is not in a forgiving mood: 82% rated the legislature's job performance as "fair" or "poor." What may come as a surprise to Republicans is that the public blames everybody just about equally. The governor and House Republicans have been beating on the Senate Democrats since the session ended, with little result.

This is not terribly shocking. In the minds of the public, the legislature is regarded as a monolithic block without party designation. Many people would be unable to tell you which party controls what. However, the public can tell the difference between people in power who get things done and people who don't, and clearly the public is seeing a whole lot of worthless boat anchors at the Capitol. Since the House is the only body up for election this year, and since the Republicans hold a large majority, an anti-incumbent movement would hurt them the most. There are five months to go, though, so a lot can still happen.