Over the past couple of weeks the Republicans, and the incredibly clueless members of the Tea Party movement which are dominating the party, have brought the United States close to defaulting upon the debt that George Bush and the Republicans are primarily responsible for running up. Their irresponsible actions have led to the downgrading of the United States by Standard and Poor’s and a major drop in the stock market (which fortunately showed signs of recovery today). The Tea Party has reached new levels of irresponsibility, first in desiring that the United States default, and secondly in immediately blaming Democrats for the consequences of their actions after the downgrading.
It does not look like the right wingers are fooling very many people. A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey showed that the result of the debate over the debt ceiling was a fall in support for the Republicans:
The debt ceiling debate hurt Americans’ view of Republicans, bolstered their opinion of Democrats, and drove the tea party’s favorable ratings to a new low, a poll on Tuesday found.
Just 33 percent of Americans approve of the Republican Party, while 59 percent disapprove in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday. That’s a net negative 10-percentage-point shift from less than a month ago, when 41 percent of those surveyed by CNN said they had a favorable view of the GOP while 55 percent had an unfavorable one.
At the same time, Democrats’ numbers have improved slightly, with approval and disapproval each at 47 percent. In July, 45 percent approved and 49 percent disapproved, a net 4-point positive change.
The tea party movement fares slightly worse than the GOP and has its most dismal ratings since CNN began asking about the movement in polls in January 2010. Thirty-one percent said they see it favorably while 51 percent see it unfavorably. In July, those numbers were 37 percent and 47 percent, respectively.
Of those surveyed, just 41 percent say they think the House member in their district should be reelected — the lowest ever — while 49 percent said the member does not deserve another term. A year ago, 52 percent supported reelection of their representatives while 42 percent opposed it.
The last time the Republicans polled so unfavorably in this survey was in 1998 after the House voted to impeach Bill Clinton.