Poll: Dem favorable rating sinks to record low

The favorability rating for Democrats has hit a record low at 36 percent, falling below Republicans for the first time in three years, according to the latest Gallup poll.

It’s the lowest rating Democrats have notched since Gallup first began tracking the figure in the early 1990s and a 6-percentage-point drop from 42 percent in the same poll before the midterm elections.

{mosads}The favorability edge Democrats have had over Republicans for much of the last decade is also gone. The rating for Republicans ticked up slightly from 40 percent to 42 percent in the latest poll.

The Gallup poll was conducted between Nov. 6 and Nov. 9, just days after voters rebuked Democrats in a midterm election that saw big across-the-board gains for Republicans.

The GOP has picked up eight Senate seats so far, taking control of the upper chamber. In the House, Republicans picked up at least 12 seats, bringing them near their largest majority in the lower chamber in decades. They also control a strong majority of state houses across the country and 31 governor’s mansions.

Gallup notes that there has been extreme volatility in the Democratic Party’s favorability ratings since President Obama took office in 2008. Democratic favorability rating topped 50 percent as recently as December 2012 and had suffered only a slow decline before the bottom fell out in the latest poll.

Conversely, Republican support collapsed to 28 percent — the lowest figure either party has ever achieved — only one year ago, after voters blamed the GOP for the government shutdown.

“The GOP currently has an image advantage over the Democratic Party; still, neither party is held in particularly high regard,” Gallup analyst Andrew Dugan wrote. “This is yet another sign of Americans’ dissatisfaction with their political system.”

The Democrats’ drop in favorability is in part due to supporters’ views of their own party. Eighty-one percent of self-described Democrats have a favorable view of their party, down from 88 percent in September.

In addition, only 25 percent of those who describe themselves as independents have a favorable view of Democrats, down from 35 percent in the previous poll.

The Gallup survey of 828 adults was conducted between Nov. 6-9 and has a 4-percentage-point margin of error.