Gallup Poll: GOP Favorability Sinks to Historic Low
Wow, the latest Gallup poll is stunning — the approval rating of the Republican Party has now dropped by 10 points since the last poll, to a historic low for either party: Republican Party Favorability Sinks to Record Low.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With the Republican-controlled House of Representatives engaged in a tense, government-shuttering budgetary standoff against a Democratic president and Senate, the 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.
Greg Sargent notes the last time the GOP’s approval rating took such a precipitous dive: GOP’s Favorability Sinks Into Clinton Impeachment Territory.
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.