GOP Damaged By Tea Party Debt Ceiling Fiasco

Apparently playing cat-and-mouse with the nation’s credit rating and stocks hasn’t endeared the Tea Party-infused GOP to the electorate:

A new survey by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for Democracy Corps and Women’s Voices. Women Vote Action Fund reveals voters’ growing discontent with Washington. This survey was fielded at a unique time—right after the credit rating downgrade—and we are seeing a uniquely bleak response from the American people. Three quarters of voters now believe the country is on the wrong track, up 14 points since June, and the lowest in our tracking of this question since the 2008 financial crisis.

Both parties in Congress lose ground, but Republicans have born the brunt of the backlash. Two thirds disapprove of House Republicans and 44 percent strongly disapprove– a 7 point surge since June. By a margin of 54 to 36 percent, voters say that the more they hear from House Republicans, the less they like.

The President’s approval rating remains stable, but a striking 53 percent say that they will consider voting for a third party candidate next year.

While GQR is a Democratic firm, nonpartisan ones, like Pew and NYT/CBS News, also found the Congressional GOP — and its new Tea Party brand — coming out of this fight the loser, with the conservative movement arousing significantly higher unfavorable ratings since January.

That being said, the president didn’t exactly gain stature during the tumultuous fight: he clings to a smaller lead than ever over Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney. Three quarters of voters think the country is on the wrong track and a record 82 percent disapprove of Congress.

And the GQR poll shows Obama’s signature domestic achievement — the healthcare overhaul — still arouses much more anger than appreciation by the public at large 15 months after enactment, and less than a year before it will be front-and-center in the general election.