Boehner’s favorability at pre-shutdown levels

Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) favorability rating has increased slightly since last year’s government shutdown, but it stands at only 32 percent. 

A Gallup poll released Wednesday found another 50 percent of people have an unfavorable view of the Speaker, while 8 percent of people have no opinion. 

{mosads}His favorable rating has rebounded 5 points, to pre-shutdown levels. The last time Gallup polled the question, in early October, only 27 percent had a favorable view of him, while 51 percent had an unfavorable view. 

Boehner’s unfavorable rating is nearly identical to his rating during the shutdown. It spiked 10 percent to its highest point and has remained there since. 

The increase in his unfavorable rating could partly have to do with his increase in name recognition. Only 10 percent of people have never heard of the Speaker, an all-time low since he took the job.

Boehner sat down with President Obama on Tuesday to discuss a range of issues for one of their first one-on-one meetings since late in 2012 during “fiscal-cliff” negotiations. 

Presidents have historically tended to have higher approval ratings than Speakers of the House, which holds true today. 

Obama’s favorability rating in February stood at 52 percent, while 46 percent have an unfavorable view of him. 

“At this point, Americans see Obama in a much more favorable light than they see Boehner, giving the president considerable power in the court of public opinion as the two leaders joust on a series of issues and policy proposals facing the country,” Gallup noted in its survey.

The poll was conduced Feb. 6-9 and surveyed 1,023 people. It contains a 4-percent margin of error.