New Poll: Boehner Under Water With GOP Voters

Rank-and-file GOP House members are now confronted with an important question: do they want to head into a presidential election with a leader who is unpopular with their own voters and hated by Independents?

Gallup released a poll today showing that just 23% of Americans view Speaker John Boehner favorably. A clear majority have an unfavorable view of him.

What is more revealing is that Boehner is under water in terms of approval with his own party.

Just 37% of Republicans have a favorable view of the Speaker, while 42% view him unfavorably. His numbers are atrocious among Independents – 17%-57%. Gallup notes that McConnell is also unusually unpopular with his own party. His only saving grace is that so many people have never heard of him. However, as witnessed by the spontaneous applause at the GOP debate when Sen. Ted Cruz called him a liar, the more Republicans know about him the more they dislike him.

When was the last time sitting GOP congressional leaders were this unpopular with their own party? When Gallup asked the same question about then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi in October 2010, although she was also very unpopular overall, only 22% of Democrats viewed her unfavorably compared to 42% of Republicans souring on Boehner this year.

Why are Republicans so dispirited about their leaders? What about Independents? Is it because they are too conservative and too aggressive in opposing Obama’s agenda? Clearly not. As indicated by the recent Pew poll, this Congress is rated much lower than the Gingrich-era Congress, even though the ’95 Republicans were more spirited in pushing a bold agenda against a more popular and less radical Democrat president.

Had this dynamic unfolded anywhere in the private sector, the corporate board would have fired a CEO like John Boehner long ago. Sadly, in the public sector, and particularly in the Republican Party, failure often seems to be a resume enhancer.

Those House conservatives who are reticent about the effort to fire Boehner are not only responsible for the devastating Obama policies that will go unchecked, they must now contend with the reality of losing the White House because of unpopular leadership. (Re-posted with permission from the author, “New Poll: Boehner Under Water With GOP Voters”, originally appeared HERE)

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