House Speaker John Boehner is enjoying a significant rise in popularity, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll. Boehner’s favorability rating currently stands at 42 percent, up 8 percentage points from Gallup’s November poll taken immediately after the 2010 midterm elections. Boehner’s unfavorable rating is down to only 22 percent, a 9-point improvement from November’s poll. The USA Today/Gallup numbers are in line with recent CNN/Opinion Research and ABC News/Washington Post polls.
While John Boehner is enjoying higher approval ratings due in large part to the Republicans’ convincing electoral victory and his new-found media spotlight, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi still remains unpopular with a 54 percent unfavorable rating, marking no change from Gallup’s November poll.
However, despite the sudden uptick in Boehner’s popularity, Gallup’s Jeffrey M. Jones notes that the surge, “is similar to what occurred for Nancy Pelosi when she rose to the speakership after the 2006 elections. In October 2006, Americans were largely divided in their views of her — 26% favorable and 28% unfavorable. After she became speaker, 44% of Americans viewed her favorably and 22% unfavorably.”