Barely one in five Americans (21 percent) approve of the way Republicans in Congress are handling negotiations over the budget, while nearly three quarters disapprove (74 percent). Disapproval is up from 63 percent since the start of the shutdown, after reaching 70 percent last week.

76% of independents disapprove of how Republicans have handled this, and even 47% of Republicans and 43% of conservative Republicans say the same. Among independents, the intensity of the reaction is not surprising but nonetheless remarkable: 52% strongly disapprove. 59% of self-identified conservatives likewise disapprove, and over a third (36%) strongly disapprove. When we consider that the shutdown strategy was intended to spark a popular revolt against the Democrats and the ACA, it is all the more striking that it has achieved almost the exact opposite. Majorities of virtually every other demographic are against the Republicans on this question, which makes this one of the most lopsided political defeats for the party in several years. No matter the age group, income group, or region, the public disapproves of Republicans’ performance by at least two to one margins. The failure of the GOP’s shutdown strategy was guaranteed before it started, but I don’t think anyone fully appreciated how strongly the strategy would be repudiated by the public.