No surprise here, but the approval numbers for state and local government are encouraging.

Pew:

Americans' opinion of the federal government has fallen to a record low even as they continue to view local and state governments favorably, according to Pew Research Center survey released on Monday.

Just 28 percent of Americans rate the government in Washington favorably, the lowest percentage ever in a Pew survey and down 5 percentage points from a year ago, Pew said in a statement.

The favorability rating has fallen steadily from a high of 82 percent in November 2001, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

The March survey showed Democrats with a more favorable opinion than Republicans of the federal government, at 41 percent to 13 percent.

Democrats' opinion has fallen 20 percentage points since July 2009, six months after President Barack Obama took office. The Republicans' favorable opinion is down 11 percentage points.

The poll shows that 63 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of their local government, virtually unchanged since 2007. Fifty-seven percent have a favorable view of their state governments, up 5 percentage points from 2012.

Fully 71 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who live in Republican-led states - those with a Republican governor and state legislature - have a favorable opinion of their state government.

But only 30 percent of Republicans living in Democratic-led states view their state governments favorably.

Democrats and Democratic leaners in Democratic-led states have a 64 percent positive view of their state governments. Among Democrats living in Republican-led states, 50 percent have a favorable opinion and 46 percent have an unfavorable opinion of their state government.

So 72% of Americans are anti-government extremists?

At 28%, I'm surprised DC's favorability it's that high. I'm also surprised that only 41% of Democrats have a favorable view of Washington. You would think that with the presidency and the Senate in their control, they'd be a little happier.

This attitude does the GOP little good, since they are seen as part of the problem. But there's a way to tap into that dissatisfaction by clearly laying out an agenda for growth and change and then defending it vigorously.

This seems to be beyond the capability of Washington Republicans, however, so you might want to look to the states for inspiration in this regard. The national GOP has become so toxic - even among rank and file Republicans - that I think it nearly a certainty that the next nominee for president from the party will come from the ranks of governors - perhaps one that hasn't even been elected yet. They are the ones pushing new ideas, new ways of doing things, not national Republicans.

We could sure use some of that energy to reinvigorate the party and give the GOP a chance to win in 2016.