Mitt Romney’s personal favorability rating continues to slide farther down. According to the recent Washington Post/ABC News poll opinions about Romney have hit a new low, right before Romney tries to sell himself at the Republican National Convention. The poll found only 35 percent of American adults have a favorable impression of Romney, while 51 percent hold an unfavorable opinion of him. This is a drop from earlier in the month when Romney’s favorable rating was an anemic 40 percent favorable to 49 percent unfavorable.
Romney’s favorability rating took a hit during the heated Republican primary, but after he secured the nomination, opinions of him improved slightly once Republicans started rallying around him. It now appears, though, to have started falling again as independents turn against him. The poll found only 31 percent of independents view Romney favorably and 51 percent view him unfavorably.
By comparison, half of all adults view Obama favorably while just 44 percent view him in a negative light. While both had a modest drop from earlier in the month, this gives Obama a big lead over Romney on the question.
What is interesting is that in general both parties are viewed negatively, according to Gallup. For the Republican Party it is 44/50 and for the Democratic Party is 43/52. Obama is viewed significantly more favorably than his party as a whole, while Romney is much less liked than his party. If a theoretical generic Republican nominee existed, it would probably be better liked than Romney.
