Poll: Boehner favorable ratings slip

PRINCETON, N.J., April 28 (UPI) -- U.S. residents are pretty evenly split on how they view House Speaker John Boehner, a sharp decline since January, Gallup reported Thursday.

Results from the Gallup-USA Today poll indicate the speaker's favorable-unfavorable ratings are about equal, after positive views about him were nearly twice as high as his negative ratings when he first took the gavel.

Since January, Boehner's ratings have slipped in all party groups, with greater change among independents, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said. His favorable rating is down 10 points among independents and his unfavorable rating is up 17 points.

Although Republicans said they felt less positive toward the Ohio Republican than in January, they still widely view him favorably.

Democrats' opinions were more negative than positive in January and have pushed further negative in the latest poll.

Results for the Gallup-USA Today poll are based on nationwide telephone interviews conducted with 1,013 adults April 20-23. The margin of error is 4 percent.