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Democratic leaders in Congress are gearing up to send their strongest legislative message yet to the White House on the issue of Iraq now that the House and Senate each narrowly passed a war funding bill requiring the president to start bringing troops home within the next 12 months. But does the move constitute a victory or a setback for the new Democratic majority? It depends on whom you ask.

Sentiments toward House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., are sharply divided along party lines in National Journal's latest poll [PDF] of congressional insiders. The 41 Democratic respondents gave Pelosi an average grade of B+ and Reid a B, compared with the D+ ratings for both from the 42 GOP respondents.

On the funding bill, "Nancy Pelosi demonstrated that she has the ability to hold Democrats together on some of the toughest questions they'll confront," one Democrat gushed. Another suggested that Thursday's Senate victory was a feather in Reid's cap: "Until the Iraq vote, he was being outmaneuvered at every other turn."

But Republicans saw the Democrats' "success" in getting the funding bill passed somewhat differently. Pelosi "had to use threats and pork to get it done -- even during this honeymoon phase," one GOP insider scoffed. Another complained of Reid's tactics, "The partisanship and obstructionism he practices in achieving his victory will make it impossible for him to ever broker the bipartisan deals needed to be a truly effective leader of the Senate."

The American public, meanwhile, is still largely satisfied with the Democratic sweep in last year's midterm elections, according to a new Pew Research Center poll, and Pelosi's 48-percent job approval rating in that survey surpasses President Bush's by 15 points. But there are signs that the post-election glow is fading, and voters are expecting more results.

Only 37 percent of Pew respondents said they approve of the policies and proposals put forth by the Democratic leadership so far; 42 percent disapprove. Meanwhile, Congress' job approval rating stands at just 30 percent in a new FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll, with only 38 percent of Democratic respondents looking favorably on Congress' performance.

Fifty-four percent of Pew respondents said they are glad the Democrats took over Congress, but that's down 6 points from Pew's post-midterm poll in mid-November. The same percentage said they think Democratic leaders have been successful in implementing their agenda, a 5-point drop from November. When asked if they thought the Democrats were staying true to their campaign promises, respondents were about split, with 40 percent saying yes and 38 percent saying no.

One campaign issue that weighed particularly heavily on voters' minds was the war in Iraq, and when Pew pollsters asked respondents to name the most important action the 110th Congress has taken so far, working on "ending the war" and "bringing the troops home" was cited more than any other issue. A 43-percent plurality said they wanted Bush to "go along with the Democrats more often," something the president has pledged not to do when it comes to the Iraq funding bill. In the FOX/Opinion Dynamics poll, respondents were about evenly split on the merits of the Democrats' plan to begin withdrawing troops. But other recent polls have shown about 60 percent of Americans backing the plan.

Money Race Demoralizing The GOP?
Ahead of the close of first-quarter campaign filing on Saturday, FOX News/Opinion Dynamics pollsters asked if the best candidates or the best-financed candidates win elections. By a 34-percent margin, respondents said that candidates with the deepest coffers have a better shot.

Democratic respondents were slightly more convinced of the wealth advantage in campaigns than Republicans, 65 percent to 51 percent. The Democratic Party's current front-runners, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., are expected to bring in serious amounts of cash and potentially shatter some records in the process.

Perhaps it makes sense, then, that Democratic respondents were more optimistic than their Republican counterparts that a candidate from their party will inhabit the White House come 2009. Nine in 10 Democrats said their party's nominee is more likely to win, but Republicans were evenly split in their predictions.

See the full poll for more, including questions on network debates.

The Public Pulse -- Latest Opinions At A Glance
The table below offers the latest key national numbers. Click on the number in question for poll details. (Last updated April 2)

20% Job approval rating.	28% Job approval rating.	19% Give the economy a positive rating.	20% Say country is going in right direction.

The above icons represent (left to right) Congress, President Bush, the economy and the direction of the country.

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