Democrats, Republicans Both Fall Out Of Favor With U.S. Majority, A New Gallup Poll Finds

ACROSS AMERICA — Public opinion of the Democratic Party is changing — and not for the better, according to a new Gallup poll released Tuesday.

In fact, a majority of Americans now view both the Democrat and Republican parties as "unfavorable," which is prompting a rise in independent political identification, the poll found.

Poll results showed that 55 percent of Americans currently view the Democratic Party unfavorably while 43 percent view it favorably. Meanwhile, 56 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party while and 40 percent have a favorable one.

The latest results follow a chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, a continuing surge in U.S. coronavirus cases and an uneven economic recovery. As a result, President Joe Biden's job approval rating has fallen to its lowest point since his inauguration.

The poll was conducted between Sept. 1-17 using a random sample of 1,005 adults living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

The margin between the two parties shrank considerably from earlier this year, when there was an 11-point difference separating the two parties. At the time, more Americans viewed Republicans unfavorably, according to Gallup.

Currently, the difference is only 3 percentage points.

Biden's loss of popularity, primarily among independents, likely contributed to the lower favorable ratings of his party. The party's favorable image is also down mostly among independents, from 48 percent in January to 35 percent in the current poll.

Historically, Americans have viewed the Democratic Party more positively than the Republican Party. Since 2009, the average favorable rating for the Democratic Party has been 45 percent compared with 40 percent for the GOP, according to the poll.

Another reason for the discrepancy between parties is Republicans tend to view their own party less favorably than Democrats, the poll found. Since 2008, about 88 percent of Democrats viewed their party favorably compared to 82 percent of Republicans.

The Democratic Party also tends to hold an edge over Republicans because more independents typically view the Democratic Party more positively than the Republican Party.