News

Obama’s, GOP’s ratings hit record lows

President Obama’s job approval rating and the GOP’s favorability rating have hit all-time lows, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

In the poll released Wednesday evening, 42 percent of people said they approve of Obama’s job as president. His handling of healthcare, the NSA and the government shutdown all affected people’s views, the poll found.

{mosads}The latest rating marks a drop from the 47 percent who approved of his job in early October. At the end of 2012, post-reelection, Obama’s approval rating was at 53 percent. 

The NBC News/WSJ poll found only 22 percent has a favorable view of the Republican Party. That number reflects how much the GOP suffered because of their political tactics during the government shutdown that dominated headlines the first half of October. 

Democrats, on the other hand, have fared better with a 37 percent favorability rating. 

A majority of those polled said they belonged to neither political party, which NBC News and the WSJ said is a rarity in their decades of polling.  

The poll reiterates Congress’s unpopularity. More than 60 percent of people say their current member of Congress doesn’t deserve another term and that a new person should have a chance in Washington. 

The first part of the poll was released earlier on Wednesday. It found the public is largely divided over the ObamaCare website problems.

Thirty-seven percent of people think HealthCare.gov’s glitches are a short-term issue that will be repaired. 

Fewer people, 31 percent, say the website’s troubles will carry into the long term. Thirty percent say it’s too soon to tell.