NBC/WSJ Poll: GOP favorability at all-time low; Obama's approval rating ticks up

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - More than a week after the federal government went into a partial shutdown, a new poll has come out showing the Republican Party suffering the most from the gridlock gripping the nation.

According to the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, out yesterday, more than half the country (53 percent) blames the GOP for the shutdown in D.C., while less than a third (31 percent) think President Obama is to blame.

That's compared to the 49 percent who blamed Republicans for the last government shutdown.

The GOP's standing with the public has also hit an all-time low: less than a quarter of respondents (24 percent) gave the Republican Party a favorable opinion, while Democrats fared better (39 percent).

The Tea Party fared the worst among the three, dropping down to an all-time low of 21 percent.

Perhaps most surprising were the results for the president: Obama's 47 percent favorability rating is actually up two points from the last NBC/WSJ poll. Other political figures, both left and right, were not viewed nearly as well.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz (14 percent favorable/28 percent unfavorable), Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (18 percent favorable/32 percent unfavorable) and Republican House Speaker John Boehner (17 percent favorable/42 percent unfavorable) all had the confidence of less than one out of five people.

With one year left until the 2014 midterm elections, the poll also questioned Americans on who they prefer to control Congress. Republicans lost ground here, too, with voters preferring Democrats in charge over Republicans by eight points (47 percent to 39 percent), compared with last month, where Democrats held only a three-point advantage (46 to 43).

One more finding: favorability for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act rose 7 points, from 31 percent last month to 38 this month. This comes as the program's state and federal exchanges have been opened for more than a week and Republicans have started to drop the health care law demands they were clamoring for at the beginning of the shutdown.

Copyright 2013 WWBT NBC12. All rights reserved