FACT-CHECK: David Axelrod – Rebublican Party favorability in 1994 was nearly 60% and now is at an all time low | Meet the Facts : Meet the Press Needs Fact-checking

FACT-CHECK: David Axelrod – Rebublican Party favorability in 1994 was nearly 60% and now is at an all time low

Jun 15, 2010 17:23 | admin

The following is a fact-check from the June 13, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

DAVID AXELROD

1) In 1994 the Republican Party had a nearly 60% favorability rating – LIKELY TRUE

2) Today, the Republican Party is at an all time low in favorability – FALSE

MR. AXELROD: Look, the Republican Partyâ€“everybody says, â€œIs this 1994?â€ In 1994 the Republican Party was nearly at 60 percent in favorability. Today, theyâ€™re at an all-time low.

According to the Pew Research Center, the Republican favorability rating in July of 1994 was 63%, and in December of 1994 it was 67%. This CBS News article indicates the average favorability for the Republican Party in 1994 was 57%. Looking at this Gallup chart tracking party favorability since 1993, it appears that they found the Republican Party’s favorability throughout 1994 to be somewhere in the low 50s (%).

According to a Gallup poll released on June 1, 2010, the Republican party currently had a favorability rating of 36%. A CBS poll in late May had the party’s favorability at 33%. The last Pew Research Center poll available on the subject was in April and that had the favorability rating for Republicans at 37%. None of these match the Republican Party’s lowest recorded favorability rating, 31%, which occurred in 1998 when the Republican controlled House of Representatives voted to impeach President Clinton.

1) Because the range of polls we were able to source regarding the favorability of the Republican Party in 1994 did average out to around 60%, we’ll rate Mr. Axelrod’s first part of this statement LIKELY TRUE.Â (ED NOTE: We were unable to find direct links to 1994 polling results and instead relied on more recent articles by major polling firmsÂ or news orgs that specifically referenced results from 1994.)

2) According to the Gallup, CBS, and Pew Research Center polls, the Republican party is not at an all time low in favorability but actually between 2% to 6% higher than the 1998 low. Therefore, we rate Mr. Axelrod’s second part of this statement FALSE.

This fact-check took a combined 3 hours.