Poll: New High For Disapproval Of GOP's Handling Of Budget Talks [View all]

[highplainsdem]

Source: Talking Points Memo

Republicans continue to absorb the bulk of the blame for the protracted budget impasse, with a poll released Monday showing public disapproval of the GOP's handling of the crisis reaching an apex.

The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll found 74 percent of Americans disapproving of how congressional Republicans are handling the budget negotiations, up from 63 percent two weeks ago. Fifty-four percent said they "strongly" disapprove of the Republicans while 20 percent said they "somewhat" disapprove. Only 21 percent said they approve of the way Republicans have handled the talks.

The poll found Republicans receiving far more blame than the other parties in the negotiations. Fifty-three percent said they disapprove of how President Barack Obama has handled the negotiations while 61 percent said they disapprove of Democrats in Congress.

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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/poll-new-high-for-disapproval-of-gop-s-handling-of-budget-talks

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The complete poll results can be found in a PDF file at this link:

http://www.langerresearch.com/uploads/1144a30ShutdownWeek%20II.pdf

ABC NEWS/WASHINGTON POST POLL: Shutdown, Week II
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AFTER 3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 14, 2013

Disapproval of GOP Peaks In Blame for the Budget Crisis


A new high of 74 percent of Americans disapprove of the way the Republicans in Congress are
handling Washington’s budget crisis, up significantly in the past two weeks and far exceeding disapproval of both President Obama and congressional Democrats on the issue.

The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that criticism of the GOP’s handling of the budget dispute has grown by 11 percentage points since just before the partial government shutdown began, from 63 to 70 and now 74 percent – clearly leaving the party with the lion’s share of blame. Indeed 54 percent now “strongly” disapprove.

By contrast, 53 percent disapprove of Obama’s work on the issue, essentially flat since the crisis came to a head and a broad 21 points lower than disapproval of the Republicans. Fewer, as well, strongly disapprove of Obama’s performance, 39 percent.

The Democrats in Congress, for their part, remain positioned between the two: Sixty-one percent disapprove of their handling of budget talks in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, unchanged from last week and up 5 points from the week before.

The graph with this clearly illustrates disapproval of the GOP continuing to escalate this last week, while leveling out for President Obama and Democrats.

More details from the poll:

Fewer than half (49%) of Republicans approve of the GOP's handling of the budget, while President Obama and the Democrats in Congress get 71% and 61% approval from Democrats.

76% of independents disapprove of the way the GOP is handling this.

Even 59% of conservatives disapprove of the way the GOP is handling this crisis.

More good news for the president is that "the gap between Obama and the Republicans is substantial across gender and income groups alike. And again he’s got a better approval rating on the issue than the Republicans’ even among whites (34 vs. 22 percent), a group Obama lost by 20 points in the 2012 presidential election."