Boehner falling out of favor [View All]

[a kennedy]

It hasn't taken John Boehner long to fall out of favor with the American public. His national approval rating has dropped a net 18 points already since the beginning of January. At the outset of the year 35% of voters approved of the job he was doing to 28% who disapproved and 37% who were reserving judgment. Now his approval has declined 10 points to 25% and his disapproval has risen 8 points to 36%.

What's most interesting about Boehner's fall is that you can't pin it to a single voter group- he's down a good deal with everyone. He is, as has been speculated, having trouble with the base. 56% of Republicans gave him good marks at the start of the year but now less than half of them do at 45%. He was on narrowly positive ground with independents in January at 34/30 but now he's in negative territory at 21/34, reflective of the national trend back away from the GOP with independents after a good year for Republicans with them in 2010. And where Democrats were willing to give Boehner a chance starting out- only 39% disapproved of him- that number is now up to 53%.

What might be most remarkable about Boehner's numbers is that Nancy Pelosi now has a higher approval rating than him- 30% to his 25%. Pelosi's disapproval is still a whole lot higher too- 53% to Boehner's 36%- but for as much as Pelosi has been maligned it's interesting to see that there are more voters who like her than her successor.

http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2011/04/boehner-falling-out-of-favor.html