Poll during shutdown: Obamacare up, GOP at new low

While the shutdown is certainly affecting public opinion of government, it’s only improving reception of its cause, poll results released on October 10 show.

Approval of the Affordable Care Act rose seven percent in one month to 38, according to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal survey, conducted on October 7-9.  The improvement apparently comes from voters who were previously undecided about the program, as a seven-percent drop to 17 unsure of the program is also noted in the poll.

Only 39 percent of Americans favor eliminating federal funding for the healthcare law, and only 23 percent approve of this shutdown tactic to achieve that goal.  

Positive opinion of the president rose to 47 percent, the poll also found, rising two points from September. Negative reception dropped from 42 percent to 41, with 11 percent of respondents reporting neutral views in this week’s poll.

The upswing in reception of President Obama and the ACA is matched in decline in public opinion of the Republican Party.

Positive reception of the GOP fell four percent to only 24 since last month, the survey found, and negative opinion rose from 44 to 53 percent.

That’s the highest negative rating against the Republican Party in the 43 polls conducted for NBC/Wall Street Journal since Obama first took the office of president, and the first time a majority-negative was found.

A 53-percent majority also blames Republicans in Congress exclusively for the shutdown; another 13 percent blame both House GOP and the president, with three percent undecided.  

Seventy percent of respondents find that Republicans are only using the shutdown to pursue a self-serving agenda instead of what’s good for the country, and which affects their status in next year’s elections, the survey found. Desire for a Republican-led Congress fell to a 51-month low (38 percent approval).

This latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll reports a margin of error of +/-3.46 percent.