It's an Election Year: Popularity Counts

As the mid-year election cycle begins here in 2014, it's important to note that polls are designed to measure the pulse of the country. Of course, there is always a degree of error when any pollster, let alone the folks at Gallup, try to measure the mood, but many times the numbers dob't lie. In an end-of-the-year message, Harry Reid opined that Congress was less popular than "cockroaches." Well, the Gallup polls of late did not included cockroaches, metamorphosized or not, but we were presented with some relatively startling numbers when comparing Congress to other well-known professionals.
Just to give an idea of the respondents and their outlook, 45% of them said their tax rate was "just about right." Sixty percent indicated that they would save rather than spend, and a majority admitted to eating vegetables at least four times in the last week...salt of the earth-type folks. That gives you an idea of who the respondents in the latest poll were.
Those polled were asked how they rated the ethics of Congress when compared with other  professionals with regard to "high or very high ethics."
Now, the numbers:
Nurses received the highest percentage when 80% indicated that nurses had high or very high ethical standards.
Grade school teachers were rated at 70% for their ethics.
Then, the bottom falls out...

Television reporters were seen as ethical by 22% of those polled.
Lawyers rated 20% approval for their principled behavior.

Car salesmen were accorded a mere 9% rating for ethics.
Congressional approval finally weighed in at 8% favorability for their ethics, and
Lobbyists came, unsurprisingly, in last, garnering a mere 6% of those responding indicating high or very high ethics.

It's going to be a long election cycle.