The media has been touting House Speaker Pelosi’s genius and popularity lately. The American people though like Congress about as much as ever.

Meanwhile Trump’s numbers are way up.

President Donald Trump’s job approval rating has risen to 44% after the conclusion of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. While views of Trump have improved, the public’s heightened positivity does not extend to views of Congress, as its 21% approval rating is essentially unchanged from January.

Much of this has to do with a booming economy. 

Meanwhile the public doesn’t like Pelosi’s Congress any more than it liked Ryan’s Congress. But Congress usually has low ratings.

Trump’s overall approval rating, which had slumped to 37% amid the shutdown, hasn’t been this high since October, after his nominee Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice. His current approval is just one percentage point shy of his personal best, achieved twice in his presidency — in the first week of his term and in June 2018, after his meeting with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un.

The movement here is largely among independents. Republicans and Democrats aren’t moving anywhere.

The latest increase in approval is mainly the result of political independents’ improved opinions of Trump. Between the late January and February polls, independents’ approval of Trump rose six points, to 38%. At the same time, Republicans and Democrats held steady at 89% and 5%, respectively. Trump’s higher approval rating also reflects an increase in Republican party identification from late January, which has expanded the base of Republicans.

That’s the most significant part.

Presidential approval ratings don’t matter all that much with Trump. But the Republican base had been shrinking. 

The media is doing its best to create fear, uncertainty and doubt. But when it comes to the economy, the media’s strategy has failed.