This is from Gallup, in a poll conducted October 3-6. It’s stark enough to just quote without editorial comment.
[T]he Republican Party is now viewed favorably by 28% of Americans, down from 38% in September. This is the lowest favorable rating measured for either party since Gallup began asking this question in 1992.
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The Democratic Party also has a public image problem — although not on the same elephantine scale as that of the Republican Party — with 43% viewing the Democratic Party favorably, down four percentage points from last month.
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Self-identified Republicans are more than twice as likely to view their own party unfavorably (27%) as Democrats are to see their own party unfavorably (13%). The GOP’s unfavorable rating among Republicans is up eight points from September, compared with a one-point rise in Democratic Party unfavorables among Democrats.
To see the graphs and read the full report go here
Ok, forget what I said at the top of the page. Just one editorial comment. The 10 point drop in one month and an all time record low tells you more than all the pundits or apologists ever could about who’s “winning” the messaging war over the shutdown and how that rebranding thing is going.
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UPDATE: Some other reaction:
—Greg Sargent:
You’ll note that the only other time the GOP’s favorability ratings sank almost this low was in the beginning of 1999. I asked Gallup for a more fine grained breakdown of the data.
It turns out the GOP’s favorability rating hit 31 percent on December 19th and 20th of 1998. Those are the same two days the House GOP debated on and voted to impeach Bill Clinton. The very same two days.
And so the GOP’s favorability rating is now in the same territory as it was on those two days — or perhaps even lower.
Maybe not. As I noted the other day with respect to an ABC/WaPo poll with similar findings, some of the “unfavorable” reactions Republicans are eliciting are undoubtedly from conservatives who think they haven’t been confrontational enough…
….I don’t know for sure if congressional Republicans have more nuanced polling or access to Gallup internals showing them exactly why various elements of the electorate are unhappy with them. But they are certainly acting like their biggest problem is a base angry with them for squishiness.
Unfortunately, even if Democrats can maintain a five point edge in the generic ballot, this would not be enough for the Democrats to take control of the House.
You know that little kid at the mall, on the floor, kicking and screaming because he can’t get the toy that he wants? You notice how little he cares that people are staring at him with open disgust? That’s the modern GOP.
And if it leads to losing the House in 2014, well, they’re fine with that too! Because there is nothing more important to them than throwing a temper tantrum over a law they can’t change by democratic (or even terroristic) means.
As I’ve noted before, it’s always possible that the political winds may shift as these twin crises go on and that the GOP won’t be as damaged as current numbers seem to suggest. However, the current trends seem exceedingly clear and those kinds of trends in public opinion are difficult to reverse. Moreover, in order for it to reverse at all, the GOP is going to have to get much, much better at its messaging and its strategy. So far, there’s no sign of that happening.
Contributor, aka tidbits. Retired attorney in complex litigation, death penalty defense and constitutional law. Former Nat’l Board Chair: Alzheimer’s Association. Served on multiple political campaigns, including two for U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR). Contributing author to three legal books and multiple legal publications.