Raleigh, N.C. – When PPP last polled the
American electorate in early October, at the beginning of the shutdown,
Republicans already trailed Democrats in the generic congressional ballot by
five points, and their 29% approval rating was ten points lower than
Congressional Democrats’. Now John
Boehner and company are at 23%, with 72% disapproving of their job
performance. That ten-point gulf between
voters’ opinion of them and Democrats is now 17 points, as Congressional
Democrats have remained in place, at 40-56, almost identical to their 39-56
standing three weeks ago.
Congress
has sunk to a new low of 6%, with 87% disapproving. But though Americans despise the body as a
whole, it remains much harder to get them to blame the individual
representative they elected. 41% approve
and 45% disapprove of the job their own congressperson is doing. Democrats (48-37) like their representative
much better than Republicans (41-41) or independents (31-59) do.
Similarly,
despite blame for Congress’ conduct being placed mostly at Republicans’ feet,
Democrats have not improved much if at all looking ahead to next year’s midterm
elections. What was a 46-41 lead in the
generic ballot is now a similar 44-38.
A lot
has been made of Republicans’ search for a voice in the wake of Mitt Romney’s
loss last fall, and the 27% plurality of Americans who are not sure who the
GOP’s leader is is consistent with that.
Overall, 21% of Americans think Chris Christie serves that role, to 17%
for John Boehner and 10% for Ted Cruz, with six others at 7% or less. But among the GOP faithful, Cruz leads the
way at 21% to Christie’s 17%, Boehner’s 15%, and the others at 9% or less.
“Republican
voters nationally see Ted Cruz as the leader of their party,” said Dean Debnam,
President of Public Policy Polling. “What might be good news for them though is
that independents and Democrats actually see the GOP leader as Chris Christie,
who’s a much better face for the party. It’s another example of the Republican
base being its own worst enemy.”
PPP surveyed 649
American voters from October 29th to 31st, 2013. The
margin of error for the survey is +/- 3.8. PPP’s surveys are conducted through
automated telephone interviews.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of President
Barack Obama’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 46%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 50%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 4%
Q2 Do you approve or disapprove of the job
Congressional Democrats are doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 40%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 56%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 4%
Q3 Do you approve or disapprove of the job
Congressional Republicans are doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 23%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 72%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 5%
Q4 Do you approve or disapprove of the job
Congress overall is doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 6%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 87%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 6%
Q5 Do you approve or disapprove of the job your
own member of Congress is doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 41%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 15%
Q6 If there was an election for the U.S. House
today, would you vote for the Democratic or
Republican candidate from your district?
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 44%
Republican……………………………………………… 38%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 18%
Q7 Who do you trust more to deal with the major
issues facing the country: Barack Obama or
Congressional Republicans?
Barack Obama………………………………………… 45%
Congressional Republicans ………………………. 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 12%
Q8 Do you think the government shutdown was a
good thing or bad thing for the country?
Good thing ……………………………………………… 25%
Bad thing………………………………………………… 66%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 9%
Q9 Do you approve or disapprove of the Affordable
Care Act?
Approve …………………………………………………. 40%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 49%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 11%
Q10 Given the choices of John Boehner, Chris
Christie, Ted Cruz, John McCain, Mitch
McConnell, Sarah Palin, Rand Paul, and Mitt
Romney, who do you see as being the current
leader of the Republican Party?
John Boehner …………………………………………. 14%
Chris Christie ………………………………………….. 21%
Ted Cruz ………………………………………………… 16%
John McCain…………………………………………… 7%
Mitch McConnell ……………………………………… 3%
Sarah Palin …………………………………………….. 2%
Rand Paul ………………………………………………. 6%
Mitt Romney……………………………………………. 4%
Someone else/Not sure ……………………………. 27%
Q11 Which do you think is a more prestigious
university: the University of Michigan or
Michigan State University?
Michigan ………………………………………………… 77%
Michigan State ………………………………………… 23%
Q12 Which do you think is a more prestigious
university: the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill or North Carolina State University?
UNC………………………………………………………. 84%
NCSU ……………………………………………………. 16%
Q13 In the last presidential election, did you vote for
Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?
Barack Obama………………………………………… 47%
Mitt Romney……………………………………………. 46%
Someone else/Don’t remember …………………. 7%
Q14 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 8%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 16%
Moderate………………………………………………… 35%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 26%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 15%
Q15 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 51%
Man……………………………………………………….. 49%
Q16 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 ……………………………………………….. 38%
Republican……………………………………………… 34%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 28%
Q17 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2.
If African-American, press 3. If other, press 4.
Hispanic…………………………………………………. 11%
White …………………………………………………….. 72%
African-American …………………………………….. 11%
Other……………………………………………………… 7%
Q18 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………………………………………………….. 9%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 25%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 44%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 22%
