The approval rating of Congress has hit yet another pathetic new low — just 9 percent, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll. On Twitter, Senator John McCain reacted to the news thusly: “We’re down to paid staffers and blood relatives.” Heh. Funny. But it would have been funnier if we hadn’t heard McCain repeatedly tell the same joke for the past five years. In an effort to convince McCain to stop using this line, we’ve exhaustively compiled a list of every single time he said it in public (that we could find on Nexis!). Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to go lay down in the fetal position.
October 13, 2011: “I’m sure you may have seen yesterday’s poll where approval of Congress is down to 13 percent. I think with a little more effort, we could get into single digits. And we’re down to blood relatives and paid staffers.”
October 11, 2011: “You know, we look at the president’s approval rating. Have you checked ours lately? Thirteen percent approval. We’re down to paid staffers and blood relatives, and if we keep this up, we may be down in the single digits.”
September 23, 2011: “All this thrashing back ‘n’ forth, it may contribute to putting our approval rating from 12 [percent] down into single digits; it could be to 8 or 9. Then you are at paid staffers and blood relatives.”
December 16, 2010: “And you saw the approval rating of 13 percent. You can’t get much lower. If we do this to them, I don’t know where it goes. Down to blood relatives and paid staffers.”
November 7, 2010: “If Republicans somehow feel that we have now been embraced by the American people, look at the last approval ratings of Republicans, which I think was 17 percent. You get down that low, you get down to paid staffers and blood relatives.”
February 3, 2010: “Some polls have the approval rating of Congress in single digits, and that – you get down to blood relatives and paid staffers.”
November 3, 2008: “And by the way, the approval rating of Congress is 9 percent. You get down that low, you get down to paid staffers and blood relatives.”
November 2, 2008: “The last approval rating I saw of Congress was at 9 percent. You get down that low, you get down to blood relatives and paid staffers.”
August 25, 2008: “The approval rating in Congress is now down to 9%. That’s blood relatives and paid staffers.”
August 20, 2008: “Nine percent. Now, anybody in that 9 percent, please raise your hands. But you know, you get down that low, you get down to paid staffers and blood relatives.”
August 5, 2008: “I never thought I would be around when the approval rating of Congress was at 9 percent. You get down this low, you’re down to paid staffers and blood relatives.”
September 11, 2008: “The approval rating of Congress is down to 9 percent, I believe, down to blood relatives and paid staffers.”
July 18, 2008: “You get down to 9 percent, you get down to blood relatives and paid staffers.”
July 15, 2008: “My friends, when you get down that low, you’re down to paid staffers and blood relatives.”
July 11, 2008: “The approval of Congress is down to 9 percent – anyone here in that 9 percent? We’re down to paid staffers and blood relatives.”
June 28, 2008: “I mean, that’s why you see the approval ratings of Congress at 12 and 13 percent. I don’t know if you saw it lately. Anyone know anyone in the 12 or 13 percent range? We’re down to blood relatives and paid staffers.”
June 11, 2008: “The approval rating of Congress is at an all-time low. The ratings are so low, you get down to paid staffers and blood relatives.”
May 1, 2008: “But I would say when you look at the president’s low approval ratings, look at congressional approval ratings. And you’re down to blood relatives and paid staffers.”
April 15, 2008: “The last approval rating I saw of Congress, I think, was 19 percent. You get down that low, you get down to paid staffers and blood relatives.”
February 22, 2008: “The latest approval rating of Congress was I think 24 percent. They’re reaching all-time lows. By the way, you get down that low, you get down to paid staffers and blood relatives.”
October 25, 2007: “That’s why the approval rating of Congress is 11 percent. You get down that low, you’re down to blood relatives and paid staffers.”
August 28, 2007: “I don’t know if you saw a poll lately. It showed the approval rating of Congress was at 18, I think an historic low since Gallup has been taking polls. You get down that low, you’re down to paid staffers and blood relatives.”
July 25, 2007: “When you get this low, its blood relatives and paid staffers.”
May 15, 2007: “And the reason why congressional approval ratings I saw are at 28 percent is – and you get down to blood relatives and paid staffers when you get down that low – is because they want us to work together.”
June 1, 2006: “The last number I saw, 23 percent of the American people approve of Congress… . When you’re that low, you’re down to blood relatives and paid staffers.”
May 20, 2006: “You get down to blood relatives and paid staffers.”
