GOP favorability rebounds from shutdown

The Republican Party’s favorability rating has rebounded since last fall’s government shutdown and the GOP is now essentially tied with Democrats, according to a Gallup poll.

The poll finds that 42 percent of the public view Democrats favorably and 40 percent view Republicans favorably. Both parties face high unfavorable ratings, at 57 percent for the Republican Party and 54 percent for the Democratic Party.

The good news for Republicans is that their favorability is trending up since the shutdown. At that time, it fell to just 28 percent. 

{mosads}Republicans have been trying to avoid another shutdown or high-profile misstep before the midterm elections, and the House took a step toward that goal on Wednesday by passing a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open past Election Day.

Although the Democratic Party has a higher rating by two points than the Republican Party, it still has reason to be unhappy with the results. Since 1992, when Gallup started asking the question, the only time Democrats have had a lower rating is in March 2010. Right after the passage of ObamaCare, the rating was 41 percent.

As recently as late 2012, Democrats had a rating of 51 percent. That fell to 47 percent by the middle of last year, and has now sunk further.