How low can she go?

In an election season where everyone is running against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) -- including members of her own party -- Madame Speaker's ratings have collapsed and are so buried that even the rescued Chilean miners have given up on her.

This just in from the folks at the Gallup Poll:

Pelosi's Favorable Rating as Speaker Drops to 29%, a New Low: Nearly 6 in 10 independents now view her unfavorably

PRINCETON, NJ -- Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's favorable rating is down seven percentage points since May to 29%, a new low for her since assuming the top congressional post...Pelosi's image has gone from bad to worse in recent months, with independents, in particular, growing more critical of her. Her resulting 2-to-1 negative to positive image presents a challenge for congressional Democrats as they try to convince voters to send them back to Washington for another term. While President Obama may be of some benefit on the campaign trail in terms of firing up the Democratic base to turn out, Pelosi's subdued favorability among Democrats and highly negative image among independents suggest she is a far riskier person for Democratic candidates to be associated with -- something Republicans who are using her in ads against their opponents have already concluded.

Well, she did say she was going to "drain the swamp."

Late add/bonus: This quote just in from Ms. Pelosi - ""Let me tell you right here and now that I would rather be in our position right now than theirs." From an interview with Charlie Rose, arguing that it will be tougher than it looks for Republicans to gain 39 net seats in the House to take control. (h/t: Political Wire) I guess every generation has its Gen. George "Don't Take Any Prisoners!" Custer.

This can't be good news...

...if you're the party in power.

Tomorrow, Oct. 8, the government's unemployment numbers will be released and expectations (negative ones) already have Democrats looking for higher ground.

The venerable Gallup organization has a new poll out on unemployment today. In brief, it portends more bad things for the Democrats.

You can see the entire report/poll here...

Gallup Finds U.S. Unemployment at 10.1% in September

Underemployment, at 18.8%, is up from 18.6% at the end of August

by Dennis Jacobe, Chief Economist

PRINCETON, NJ -- Unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, increased to 10.1% in September -- up sharply from 9.3% in August and 8.9% in July. Much of this increase came during the second half of the month -- the unemployment rate was 9.4% in mid-September -- and therefore is unlikely to be picked up in the government's unemployment report on Friday.

Certain groups continue to fare worse than the national average. For example, 15.8% of Americans aged 18 to 29 and 13.9% of those with no college education were unemployed in September.

The increase in the unemployment rate component of Gallup's underemployment measure is partially offset by fewer part-time workers, 8.7%, now wanting full-time work, down from 9.3% in August and 9.5% at the end of July.

Depression era jobless: the look of things to come?

Getting "barbecued"...

The illegal alien and the ambulance chaser... (photo: San Francisco Sentinel)

A round-up of "Meg Whitman-employed-an-illegal-alien-as-a-housekeeper"-related stories...

How quickly things change: Here's a strategy: Tear apart the candidate on the front page and then bury the exculpatory follow-up on page 11. How's that unbiased journalism working for you? Bonus quote: "In fact, had she gone ahead and fired Nicandra Diaz Santillan based on such a letter, she would have exposed herself to potential anti-discrimination violations, lawyers said."

Why all the fuss? "Why Meg v Maid Saga Is a Big Deal: The Latino Vote" That explains a lot...(h/t: Calbuzz)

From Gateway Pundit: "This [below] was beautiful. Greta Van Susteren destroyed far left hack and attorney Gloria Allred on her show tonight. Great blasted Allred for her despicable hit on Meg Whitman and for using an illegal alien to smear the Whitman family. Greta ate her lunch. Gloria Allred did not see this coming– watch Gloria’s smile melt away about 15 seconds into the segment. 'Gloria, this is almost delusional!'”

"CNN reporting on Gloria Allred reads like a press release - an embarrassingly written press release: Apparently, CNN is shameless. Its headline is 'Gloria Allred is a girl's best friend.'" (h/t: Althouse)

From the esteemed blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, "Gloria Allred is doing more to drive illegal immigrants underground and to target Latinos for racial profiling than anything the State of Arizona has even thought of doing."

Nailing it (as usual): Debra Saunders at the San Francisco Chronicle calls the accusations (a) "Campaign stunt: a bunch of garbage"...

The story doesn't stop with Meg, Jerry, Gloria and the housekeeper: "Fiorina, Boxer both say they never hired domestic help" (SJ Mercury News)

So, how is this (meaning smears) and all of the other "the GOP hate Spanish-speaking folks" efforts playing with Hispanic voters? Put it this way, the dial is moving - in the wrong direction for Democrats. A recent Gallup Poll finds "Hispanic voters' support for Democratic candidates waned in August and September. As a result, Hispanics in September favored Democrats by a 13-point margin (51% to 38%), compared with 32-point margins in June and July."

Who the heck is that 21 percent?

"Approval of U.S. Congress Falls to 21%, Driven by Democrats"

According to Frank Newport at the Gallup Poll, "Americans' approval of the job Congress is doing is at 21% this month, down significantly from last month's 31% and from the recent high of 39% in March." I don't care how "safe" your seat is...if you're in Congress, you should be looking back over your shoulder.