The Republican and Democratic parties collectively reached a new low in recent weeks, as Gallup reported that a record number of Americans are dissatisfied with both factions.
For the first time, neither the GOP nor the Dems cracked the 40 percent favorability rating in a poll that has been conducted since 1992, with Americans earlier this month largely expressing disgust with both major parties in record numbers.
“Except for a brief spike to 51% for the Democrats after Obama was re-elected in 2012, both parties’ ratings have registered below 50% since 2010,” Gallup explained in a blog post. “The descent to sub-40% ratings for both parties marks a new low in an already inauspicious trend.”
Only 37 percent of Americans rated Republicans favorably. For Democrats, that pseudo-approval rating was at 39 percent.
The survey was conducted by phone, from March 5 to March 8.
Through the poll’s history, both parties reached peak favorability of 61 percent around the turn of the century—the Democratic Party, during the first months of the Bush administration; the Republican Party, immediately after 9/11.
Apart from the brief post-second presidential election victory bump for Dems, since 2010 neither party has crossed the 50 percent favorability threshold. Democrats fell to a recent low of 36 percent favorability last year, after their lackluster midterm. Republicans have barely broke the 40 percent threshold since the last Presidential election, with their peak favorability reaching 43 percent at the end of 2012. It was up to 42 percent during Republicans’ successful bid last year to regain control of the Senate.
The poll is not necessarily a great window into Americans’ thoughts on the White House. Gallup noted that, as Democrats dipped in favorability after their 2014 drubbing, “Obama received a 49% favorable rating, up from 42% after the midterms.”
In statements made immediately after his party’s latest midterm loss, President Obama recognized that Republicans’ victory was not necessarily caused by a significant spike in the popularity of the GOP.
“To everyone who voted, I want you to know that I hear you,” he said last November. “To the two-thirds of voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday: I hear you too. All of us have to give more Americans a reason to feel like the ground is stable beneath their feet, that the future is secure, that there’s a path for young people to succeed, and that folks here in Washington are concerned about them.”
Read the results of the poll here.
