Poll: Democrats More Hated than Republicans for Once, but Not by Much
According to a Gallup poll released today, the Democratic Party has hit its lowest favorability rating in the past three years — 36% — mainly driven by their awful performance in the recent midterms, and a string of blunders committed by the Obama administration in the past year.
The poll, taken after Election Day, also found that for the first time since September 2011, the Republicans are more popular than the Democrats, though not by a meaningful amount: the GOP’s recent wave bumped their approval rating to 42%, but “is essentially unchanged from 40%”, their last measured approval rating.
In addition, Gallup found a decline in self-identified Democrats having favorable opinions of the party, and that the number of independents who liked the Democrats plummeted by 25%.
While this may seem like good news for the GOP, it all depends on how you see things: the Democrats might be more hated, but that doesn’t mean the GOP is more liked. As Gallup notes:
The American public does not admire Republicans more, their numerous election victories notwithstanding. Neither party can say it is making significant progress in improving its image among the U.S. population, but undoubtedly the 2014 elections augmented the GOP’s ability to shape the agenda in Washington and in state capitals across the country. This newfound power could pose its own problems for the GOP. The party could be on the verge of winning over a greater segment of the country or, not unlike the Democrats this year, could see its brand go into a free fall. This will depend on what Republican leaders do in the coming two years.
Thank you, Gallup, for quantifying exactly how bad the political system sucks. It was a gut feeling for a while, but the hard numbers settle the matter.
[Gallup]
[Image via Shutterstock]
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