US government shutdown hurt Republicans' image: poll

WASHINGTON - Agence France-Presse

Activists with the California Alliance for Retired Americans hold placards while gathered for a die-in to protest the government shutdown and possible effects on senior citizens in front of the Federal Building in Los Angeles on October 16, 2013. AFP photo

The recent shutdown of the US government has taken a stinging toll on the image of the Republican Party, according to a poll published on Tuesday.
 
The Washington Post-ABC News survey showed the public's opinion of the party has sunk to an all-time low, with nearly two-thirds (63 percent) saying they held an unfavorable view, compared to 32 percent who view it favorably.
 
The government shutdown was sparked after Republicans driven by the ultra-conservative Tea Party faction tried to make a bill to keep funding the government contingent on gutting President Barack Obama's signature health care law.
 
The messy 16-day shutdown ended only when Congress was staring at an imminent deadline to raise the government's borrowing authority -- or face the prospect of a debt default -- and ultimately passed a bill to fund the government and raise that debt limit, albeit in both cases just for a few more months.
 
According to the poll, only one quarter of the American public hold a positive view of the Tea Party faction in the wake of the shutdown.
 
However, Obama's Democrats did not emerge unscathed from the Washington gridlock.
 
More than six in 10 people polled disapproved of how the party handled budget negotiations.
 
Unfavorable ratings of the party rose to a record high of 49 percent, although Obama's overall ratings held steady.
 
More than half of the people polled (53 percent) blamed Republicans for the deadlock, 29 percent blamed Obama and 15 percent said both sides were equally to blame.
 
The survey was conducted between October 17 and 20 with 1,002 representative voters polled.