Not only did President Barack Obama's party get trounced at the ballot box Nov. 4, but Republicans now are viewed more highly by Americans than Democrats for the first time in three years, a new poll shows.
The
Gallup survey, conducted after the elections that swept a GOP majority toward Capitol Hill, found a record-low 36 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, down 6 points from before the elections.
The Republican Party's favorable rating was 42 percent – the first time since September 2011 that it beat the ratings for Democrats. The GOP favorability rating before the election was 40 percent.
The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
"After the 2012 election, many political analysts focused on the GOP's 'image problem'," the pollster noted. "Now it is the Democrats who appear to have the more battered image. Their favorability rating has never been lower, and they are reeling from defeats that cost them control of the U.S. Senate and strengthened the Republican House majority to levels likely not seen in 90 years."
The GOP now controls 31 governorships and two-thirds of state legislative chambers as well, Gallup pointed out.
Just to illustrate how radical the change in fortunes for both parties has been, Gallup noted that after Obama's re-election in 2012, the Democrats' favorable rating spiked to 51 percent, the first majority support for either party since 2009.
During the October 2013 federal government shutdown, favorable ratings of the Republican Party dived to 28 percent, the lowest such rating for either party since Gallup first asked the question in 1992, Gallup reports.
Gallup surveys have found that although the GOP's image has held steady in recent months, support for the Democrats among independents — and the party faithful themselves — has dropped.
Currently, 81 percent of self-identified Democrats have a favorable view of their party, down from 88 percent in September and 95 percent after the 2012 election, Gallup reports.
Independents' ratings of the Democrats, at 25 percent, are down 10 points from September.
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