"Democrats still searching for a silver lining to the waxing they took last Tuesday can cheer up a bit. According to a new poll, the public may already be experiencing a bit of buyerÕs remorse about the choices theyÕve made, and Republicans seem to have unrealistic expectations about what their leaders will be able to accomplish.

A poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center found that people are considerably less happy about the RepublicansÕ victory than they were about the DemocratsÕ victory in 2006 or about the RepublicansÕ victory in 1994. They also approve much less of the ÒRepublicansÕ policies and plans for the futureÓ than they did of the DemocratsÕ plans in 2006 or the RepublicansÕ plans in 1994. (I must say that that question threw me a bit because I didnÕt know that Republicans had Òpolicies and plansÓ for the future. Silly me.)

About 60 percent of the respondents thought that the Republicans in 1994 and the Democrats in 2006 would be successful in getting their programs passed into law. This year, just more than 40 percent believed this about the Republicans. In fact, unlike in 2008 and 2006, more people than not believed that relations between Republicans and Democrats in Washington would now get worse.

That doesnÕt sound like a ringing endorsement to me. It sounds like a Congress of Low Expectations. ..."

(NYT columnist)