Some unwelcome confirmation for Republicans worried that their party needs an image overhaul: A majority of Americans views the Republican party as out of touch, too extreme and resistant to change, according to a Pew poll released Tuesday.
Sixty-two percent of adults said that Republicans were out of touch with the American people, and 52 percent that the party was too extreme. In comparison, 46 percent said that Democrats were out of touch, and 39 percent that they were too extreme.
Democrats were also viewed as slightly more likely to be looking out for the country's future -- and, by a 19-point margin, as the party more open to change.
In a lone bright spot for the GOP, while a majority viewed both parties as having strong principles, Republicans had a 6-point edge over Democrats on that measure.
Although Republicans and Democrats each got dismal marks from their opponents, the GOP owes its struggling ratings in part to discontent among its own members, about a third of whom said their party was out of touch and resistant to change. Republicans weren't, however, much more likely than Democrats to say their own party was too extreme.
Republican favorability is at a low ebb, but ratings for both parties have fallen considerably in the past decade, according to Pew.
HuffPost Pollster currently gives the Republican Party an average 31 percent favorability rating, and the Democratic party an average 46 percent rating.
Other recent polling has found that half of Republicans disapprove of their representatives in Congress, and that a slight majority of Americans say the party has moved out of the mainstream.
The Pew poll surveyed 1,504 adults, including 366 Republicans and 470 Democrats, by phone between Feb. 13 and Feb. 18.
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