The Republican Party, particularly its more extreme outpost, is hurting following a 16-day government shutdown according to two new polls.
A record number, 64% of Americans told CNN/ORC pollsters that they disapproved of the job the Republican Party was doing. It is the highest disapproval rating the party has ever had since it began asking the question 21 years ago.
Just 30% favor the GOP, slightly more than the 28% of Americans who say they favor the Tea Party movement. A full 56% of Americans disapprove of the Tea Party movement, another record high for the poll.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also took a hit in approval ratings: just 23% of Americans approve of the work he’s doing, compared to 42% who rate him unfavorable. (Though you wouldn’t know it from the eight-minute standing ovation he received on returning to Texas following the shutdown.)
Cruz’s even taking a hit amongst his own party—his favorable ratings dropped 12 points among Republicans and tend points among conservatives.
The president and Democratic approval ratings are still low, but were largely unchanged from before the shutdown in both polls. A CBS News poll found even worse rankings for the GOP: just 18% favored the job the GOP was doing in that poll, up five points from before the shutdown. The CBS poll found particular unrest within the Republican Party. While 61% of Democrats approved of the job their party was doing in Congress, only 39% of Republicans approved of their congressional delegates.
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