A Tale of Three Polls: Rating Obama, Hill Leaders and the Parties

While President Obama's poll ratings have come down over the months as the initial glow of his election wore off and the challenges before him mounted, he still is seen more favorably than other Democrats and Republicans on the national scene, according to a Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll conducted Oct. 19.

Here are the rankings:

Obama is seen favorably by 56 percent and unfavorably by 37 percent with 7 percent undecided.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is seen unfavorably by 54 percent and favorably by 38 percent with 9 percent undecided.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is seen unfavorably by 56 percent and favorably by 32 percent with 12 percent undecided.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is seen unfavorably by 66 percent and favorably by 16 percent, with 18 percent undecided.

House Minority Leader John Boehner is seen unfavorably by 63 percent and favorably by 13 percent with 24 percent undecided.

Congressional Democrats are regarded unfavorably by 53 percent and favorably by 40 percent with 7 percent undecided.

Congressional Republicans are seen unfavorably by 70 percent and favorably by 15 percent with 15 percent undecided.

The Democratic Party is seen unfavorably by 50 percent and favorably by 42 percent with 8 percent undecided.

The Republican Party is seen unfavorably by 67 percent and favorably by 20 percent with 13 percent undecided.

A separate survey by Public Policy Polling conducted Oct. 16-19 found 49 percent disapproving the job congressional Democrats are doing while 37 percent approve and 15 percent are undecided. Sixty-one percent disapprove of the performance of congressional Republicans while 17 percent are undecided.

Asked the generic question about whether voters would choose a Democrat, Republican or independent for Congress if the election were held today, 40 percent said they would choose a Democrat, 29 percent would choose a Republican, 22 percent opted for an independent or third party candidate and 10 percent were undecided.

If limited to a choice of the two major parties, 48 percent sided with the Democrats and 40 percent with the Republicans with 12 percent undecided.

And -- no kidding -- even though he is too young to run for Congress, PPP asked about the Balloon Boy. Twenty-four percent had an unfavorable opinion of him and 5 percent a favorable one and 70 percent had no opinion, clearly because they were in the dark about his stand on health care reform.

A third poll, from CNN/Opinion Research, has the Republican Party seen unfavorably by 54 percent and favorably by 36 percent, which CNN said was its lowest level in at least a decade. Fifty-three percent viewed the Democratic Party favorably while 41 percent did not. The poll was conducted Oct. 16-18.