Raleigh, N.C. – In the midst of the fight over the payroll tax cut extension, voters have turned a little more against the Republicans in Congress. Already at only a 26% approval rating, with 62% disapproving, last month, the Congressional GOP falls at 25-67 with voters nationally now. Their Democratic counterparts are not much more popular, but opinion on them has not moved; it was 28-63 in the November survey and 29-64 now. Both independents (from 20-68 to 15-77) and their own partymates (from 53-31 to 52-37) have moved against the Republicans.
Republicans’ leader in the House, Speaker John Boehner, has also seen his ratings slip as he finds himself at odds not only with the White House and the other side of the aisle but with his own caucus in the Senate. Only 27% of Americans approve of Boehner’s job performance, and 49% disapprove, a six-point slip from an already bad 30-49 in the last poll. Democrats were already at 12-61 on him, but now fall to 9-68. Boehner has slipped by a few points with independents and Republicans as well.
Only 34% of Americans think Republicans are doing a better job controlling the House than when Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats were in charge, down from 37% in November. 43% think they are doing a worse job, up from 41%. Most of the slippage is predictably with Democrats, from 11-73 to 8-79, but as Boehner, Republicans have soured a little too. Independents fall at 26-36, almost identical to last month.
Because of the wider discrepancy in opinion on the Democrats’ and Republicans’ leadership in Congress, Democrats have inched ahead in the national generic congressional ballot, with a 46-44 lead over the GOP. It was a 45-all tie in November. Essentially all of that change is with independents, who favored the GOP by a a 39-36 margin in November, but now prefer the Democratic candidates, 38-37.
PPP surveyed 700 American voters from December 16th to 18th. The margin of error for the survey is +/-3.7%. This poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization. PPP surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews. PPP is a Democratic polling company, but polling expert Nate Silver of the New York Times found that its surveys in 2010 actually exhibited a slight bias toward Republican candidates.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of the job John
Boehner is doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 27%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 49%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 24%
Q2 Do you approve or disapprove of the job
Congressional Democrats are doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 29%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 64%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 7%
Q3 Do you approve or disapprove of the job
Congressional Republicans are doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 25%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 67%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 8%
Q4 Do you think the Republicans are doing a
better job than the Democrats did while in
charge of the House of Representatives, a
worse job, or about the same?
A better job …………………………………………….. 34%
A worse job …………………………………………….. 43%
About the same……………………………………….. 21%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 2%
Q5 If there was an election for Congress today,
would you vote Democratic or Republican?
Democratic……………………………………………… 46%
Republican……………………………………………… 44%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 10%
Q6 Do you support or oppose the goals of the
Occupy Wall Street movement?
Support ………………………………………………….. 36%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 19%
Q7 Do you support or oppose the goals of the Tea
Party movement?
Support ………………………………………………….. 41%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 14%
Q8 Do you have a higher opinion of the Occupy
Wall Street movement or the Tea Party
movement?
Occupy Wall St. ………………………………………. 41%
Tea Party ……………………………………………….. 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 16%
Q9 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 12%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 18%
Moderate………………………………………………… 27%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 24%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 19%
Q10 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 50%
Man……………………………………………………….. 50%
Q11 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 40%
Republican……………………………………………… 35%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 24%
Q12 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2.
If African-American, press 3. If other, press 4.
Hispanic…………………………………………………. 8%
White …………………………………………………….. 74%
African-American …………………………………….. 12%
Other……………………………………………………… 7%
Q13 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 16%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 28%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 36%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 20%
