Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
The Republican Party may have an image problem.
According to a report by the Pew Research Center, 62 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party. That’s up since October, when 58 percent of people said they had an unfavorable view of the GOP. The survey found 33 percent of the public has a favorable impression of the Republican Party.
When it comes to the Democratic Party, 50 percent of adults said they had an unfavorable opinion of the party; while 45 percent of adults said they had a favorable opinion.
The national survey of 2,008 adults found Democrats had a far more favorable impression of their party than Republicans. The survey found 88 percent of Democrats viewed their party favorably, while 68 percent of Republicans had a favorable opinion of their party.
When it comes to independents, 28 percent have a favorable opinion of the GOP. Of those independents who consider themselves Republican-leaning, 50 percent have a negative opinion of the party.
The survey, conducted from April 12 through April 19, found that 37 percent of independents had a favorable impression of the Democratic Party; while 63 percent of Democratic-leaning independents had a favorable view of the Democratic Party.
“Overall, a quarter of the public now expresses unfavorable opinions of both political parties,” the report said. “This is driven in part by the growing share of Republicans and Republican leaners who view the GOP negatively, and by the overwhelming shares in both parties who view the opposing party unfavorably.”
According to the report, the negative ratings in both parties are “higher today than in previous presidential election years.” Seven percent of adults had unfavorable opinions of both parties in 2000; while 18 percent of adults viewed the parties unfavorably in 2012.
