From today's Free Press: Down and out GOP struggles for focus
WASHINGTON -- Republicans have spent the first hundred days of the 111th Congress mostly down and shut out.

While there's a realistic hope that they will be more involved in some upcoming policy decisions, the GOP still has a long way to go before the public sees it as constructive and cohesive rather than obstructionist and unruly.

"There are seasons in politics, and right now it's winter for the Republicans," said Jack Pitney, a congressional expert at Claremont McKenna College in California.

Polls indicate that the Republicans' approval ratings remain dismal: A March 27-29 Gallup poll found the congressional GOP approval rating at 30%, down 6 percentage points from a month earlier.

"The real issue is that the party is not being seen as constructive. They're not seen as voicing solutions to problems," said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center. "People don't feel they understand what Republicans stand for -- not even members of the party."

A Pew poll taken March 31-April 6 found that only 41% of Republicans thought the party had clearly explained its opposition to Democratic initiatives, while 42% said it hadn't explained things clearly enough....