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Poll: More Than Half Says GOP House Control 'Bad for Country'
Monday, October 21, 2013 07:56 AM
By: Melanie Batley
More than half of Americans believe it's bad for the country that the Republican Party controls the House of Representatives, according to a new poll.
The CNN/ ORC International survey — conducted Oct. 18-20, after the end of the partial government shutdown — found that 54 percent of those surveyed think it's a bad thing that the GOP controls the House, up 11 points since the same poll in December.
Just 38 percent say Republican control is a good thing, a 13-point decrease from the end of last year.
This is the first time since Republicans won back control of the House in 2010 that a majority believes GOP control of the chamber is a bad thing.
The survey of 841 adults also found that more than 60 percent of Americans think House Speaker John Boehner, the Ohio Republican, should be replaced.
"John Boehner fares just as badly as the GOP," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. "Sixty-three percent of all Americans think that Boehner should be replaced as speaker of the House, a view shared by roughly half of all Republicans."
Meanwhile, the survey found that the approval rating for Congress remains near an all-time low. Just 12 percent of respondents said they approve of the job Congress is doing while 86 percent disapprove. This compares to 44 percent who approve of the job President Barack Obama is doing compared to 52 percent who say they disapprove.
"Barack Obama's numbers are pretty anemic, but he remains in much better shape than the GOP," Holland said. "Even though Obama's approval rating remains stuck in the mid-40s, it didn't take a hit during the shutdown: 44 percent just before the shutdown began; 44 percent now."