Americans Say They'd Throw Out Entire Congress and Start Over

The government shutdown has been going on for 16 days so far, and now Americans are saying they'd throw out the entire Congress and start over (if only they could!).

A new Rasmussen Reports poll found 78 percent would vote to get rid of the entire Congress and start over again. That's a 10-point jump from the previous high of 68 percent in May of last year. Only 8 percent of voters say they'd keep the entire current Congress.

Sixty-six percent of voters now say they are at least somewhat likely to vote for a candidate other than the incumbent in the next congressional election, with 41 percent who are very likely to do so. Twenty-two percent say they are unlikely to vote for a newcomer, but that includes only 7 percent who say its not at all likely. Thirteen percent are not sure.

Voters are also in total agreement, regardless of their party affiliation.Voters who are not affiliated with either major party believe even more strongly, however, in throwing out the entire Congress, and nearly half -- 47 percent -- of these voters are very likely to vote for someone other than the incumbent in the next congressional election.

The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Oct. 14-15. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.