For Republicans, especially anti-Trump Republicans, this year has been sort of a catastrophe. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the darling of the Tea Party wing, is trailing billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry–all admired within conservative circles, have been steamrolled by Trump. After eight miserable years of President Obama, this was suppose to be an election where the GOP’s deep bench would shine against an aging Hillary Clinton, whose reputation has been further brought into question due to allegations of corruption, cronyism, and the mishandling of classified information. Instead, we have Donald Trump, who is most likely to lead the Republican Party at the top of the ticket come November. So, with the “Never Trump” crowd doing its best to knock Trump off the nominating pedestal, disgruntled conservatives within the Republican Party, and the overall anger directed towards Washington—it’s no surprise that the GOP’s approval ratings have hit its lowest point since 1992 (via Pew Research):
The Republican Party’s image, already quite negative, has slipped since last fall. Currently 33% of the public has a favorable impression of the Republican Party, while 62% have an unfavorable view. Unfavorable opinions of the GOP are now as high as at any point since 1992.In October, 37% viewed the Republican Party favorably and 58% viewed it unfavorably. The decline in favorability since then has largely come among Republicans themselves: In the current survey, 68% of Republicans view their party positively, down from 79% last fall.
Republicans have less favorable view of the GOP. By contrast, public views of the Democratic Party are unchanged since October. Currently, 45% of the public has a favorable impression of the Democratic Party, while 50% have an unfavorable opinion.
I guess the silver lining is that Democrats aren’t fairing much better.
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