This new report on citizen approval of political parties is hardly earth-shattering. The study finds that Democrats hold a significant lead among adults on overall favorability (57 percent compared to 39 percent for Republicans). But the end of the study contains more interesting–and troubling–results for the GOP. Overall, the Republican party’s depressed favorability ratings have not changed much over the past year. But the totals mask some important internal shifts. First, some good news for the party: Favorability among independents actually increased seven points, from 31 percent in July 2007 to 38 percent in May 2008. That’s a nice move for a party that got trounced by those same voters in the 2006 mid-term elections. The more troubling news for the party is the big dip among its own partisans over the past year. Self-identified Republican approval sagged by 10 points (from 83 percent in July 2007 to 73 percent in May 2008). Those numbers reflect the lowest approval ratings Republicans have given their own party since Pew began tracking the numbers in 2001. As a point of reference, neither Republicans nor Democrats have witnessed approval of their own party below 80 percent as long as Pew has been conducting these surveys. The recent news about the GOP’s brand problems, the string of special election losses, and other disappointments and disagreements is causing angst and restlessness among the rank-and-file. These numbers clearly reflect this anxiety.
