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Republican Party Favorability Highest in Seven Years.

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Vincent

Byline: Jim Norman

Synopsis: Forty-five percent of Americans have a favorable view of the Republican Party, the party's highest rating in more than seven years. Democrats are at 44%.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Forty-five percent of Americans now have a favorable view of the Republican Party, a nine-point gain from last September's 36%. It is the party's most positive image since it registered 47% in January 2011, shortly after taking control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections. Forty-four percent give the Democratic Party a favorable rating.

The parity in Republicans' and Democrats' favorable ratings marks a change from what has generally been the case since Barack Obama's election as president in November 2008. Republicans have usually been rated less positively than Democrats over this time, with the Republican Party's favorability rating for the last decade averaging 39%, compared with the Democratic Party's 44%.

Only one other time in the last decade has the Republican Party had a significantly higher score than the Democratic Party. That one exception came in November 2014, immediately after elections that saw Republicans capture control of the Senate and expand their majority in the House, when 42% rated the GOP favorably and 36% the Democrats.

The overall increase in the favorable image of the Republican Party is a result of a jump in the positive views of Republicans, including independents who lean toward the party. The percentage of Republicans and leaners with favorable views of their party grew from 67% last September to 85% now.

At the time of last September's poll, congressional Republicans were in the final throes of an unsuccessful attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," and were losing a highly publicized battle with Democrats over a debt ceiling bill. Since then, Republicans have passed a tax cut bill that was supported by a vast majority of Republicans, and the economy has continued to make gains under the Republican administration of Donald Trump.

Two other major subgroups that...

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