After giving Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) a brief post-election bump, Americans have gradually become less favorable toward him, as they are now evenly split between viewing him in a positive versus a negative light.
According to a Gallup poll released this week, 34% of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of Speaker Boehner, the same percentage who view him unfavorably. That’s a sharp reversal from January, when Gallup found that 42% of Americans viewed him favorably, compared to only 22% who said the opposite.
Since the start of the year, Boehner’s standing has slipped steadily with all political demographics, but most precipitously so among independent voters.
In January, more independents gave Boehner positive than negative marks by a 39% to 23% split. In the latest survey, that split flipped, as 29% of independents now said they viewed him favorably, versus 40% who viewed him unfavorably. That’s a net shift of -27 points.
The current TPM Poll Average still gives Boehner a net positive favorable rating, though that gap is narrowing. Check the trend lines:
Boehner’s approval rating has also been heading south since he took over as Speaker of the House in January. After starting 2011 above water in a few polls, the TPM Poll Average now shows that 32.3% of Americans approve of Boehner’s job performance, while 41.4% disapprove.
The Gallup poll was conducted April 20-23 among 1,013 adults nationwide. It has a margin of error of 4.0%.
