New Senator Approval Ratings

SurveyUSA has released its newest batch of approval ratings for the members of the U.S. Senate. Some very interesting results:

- 24 senators have approval ratings under 50%. Of those, Chafee, Nelson (FL), Sarbanes, Stabenow, Dayton, Kyl, Menendez, DeWine, Burns, Santorum, and Talent (11) are either running for reelection or retiring. That's a 6-5 split between seats currently held by Democrats and Republicans.

- Seven senators have approval ratings under 45%. They are Burr, DeWine, Santorum (43%), Burns (42%), Cornyn (40%), Lautenberg (37%) and Menendez (36%).

- Five senators have approval ratings higher than 70%. They are McCain (72%), Collins, Snowe, Obama, and Johnson (71%).

Polls are polls, and should always be taken with half a grain of salt. But they're fun to dissect. If you find any other interesting trends in the numbers, feel free to include them in the comments.