Obama disapproval rating hits all-time high

Obama disapproval rating hits all-time high
Thu Oct 31, 2013 08:25:25

President Obama had a few weeks respite from political criticism, as the public focused its anger on Republicans for driving the government shutdown. But while the GOP’s approval rating is at an all-time low, according to a new NBCNews/Wall Street Journal poll, so is Obama’s.

Just 42% of those polled approve of the president’s performance in office–down five points from a mid-shutdown poll taken earlier this month. His disapproval rating at 51% is tied for his all-time high.

Only 22% view the GOP positively, another all-time low for the poll, and 53% say they have a negative view of the Republican Party. A 30% plurality says they see the GOP “very negatively”–another record for the poll.

Democrats haven’t been immune to the public’s frustration with government and lawmakers. The last NBC/WSJ poll showed Democrats with an eight point advantage on who should control Congress after the 2014 midterms; that’s now been cut in half, showing the party with only a four point edge on the generic congressional ballot, 45%-41%.

The upside for Democrats is that more Americans still blame congressional Republicans for the shutdown, by a 38%-23% margin–but 36% say both sides carry equal blame.

Both parties and their leaders have suffered across the board since early October. Voters say they have a less favorable opinion of congressional Republicans since the shutdown, by a wide 53%-9% margin, while the gap for Tea Party Republicans is 45%-12%.

After the shutdown, 41%-21% say they have a less favorable opinion of Obama instead of a more favorable one. And the president’s personal positive-to-negative rating is upside down for the first time since he took office–41% view him in a favorable light while 45% view him negatively.

House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also remain unpopular.

2014 may see dramatic change in Congress, if voter dissatisfaction is any sign. A full 63% of voters want to replace their own member of Congress–the highest percentage in this poll since 1992.

Half of those polled think there will be another government shutdown, and just 22% say they think the country is headed in the right direction. Nearly three-fourths say Congress is contributing to problems instead of solving them.

NJF/NJF

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