For time being

So much for the notion that the Republican Party is on the rebound. Per the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll (.pdf), part of which was teased earlier, finds that the GOP’s rating matches an all-time low in the survey, with just 25 percent viewing the party positively (including a paltry 6 percent viewing it very positively) and 46 percent viewing the party negatively. The Democratic Party is viewed significantly more favorably, earning a 42 percent positive rating and a 36 percent negative rating.

These sentiments are borne out as well on the generic congressional ballot question, with the Democrats leading by a 46 percent to 38 percent margin — the best spread for the party since April, and more than double the party’s lead from just one month prior.

The numbers aren’t all roses for the Democrats. Barack Obama’s approval rating is stagnant at 51 percent, and as Chuck Todd put it, “It seems as if public says, ‘we like the president, just haven’t seen the results we were promised.'”

That said, with the Republicans earning terrible ratings, their leaders earning terrible ratings (both Mitch McConnell and John Boehner are viewed positively by just 9 percent), and their congressional candidates trailing on the generic ballot question — a gap that is growing — it’s hard to buy the notion that things are turning around for the GOP just yet.