Poll Shows Just How Much Republicans Hate Eric Holder

When Eric Holder leaves his post as attorney general, his legacy will include incurring the animosity of most of the GOP, according to a YouGov poll released Monday. As YouGov's William Jordan notes, Republicans are more likely to dislike Holder than Democrats or independents are to have any opinion of him, positive or negative.

Sixty-four percent of Republicans have an unfavorable view of Holder. By contrast, just 60 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of independents were able to rate him either way.

Holder was a frequent target of GOP criticism, and in 2012 House Republicans voted to hold him in contempt of Congress over Operation Fast and Furious. Progressive groups like the ACLU have lauded some of Holder's civil rights achievements and his frank dialogue on racism, while also expressing disappointment over his civil liberties record and pursuit of government whistleblowers.

Democrats in the poll who did have an opinion of Holder, however, were largely positive, with 44 percent viewing him favorably and just 16 percent unfavorably. African-Americans were also especially supportive, with 57 percent rating him favorably, and 6 percent unfavorably.

In total, 26 percent of Americans rate Holder positively, and 37 percent negatively, making him moderately more popular than former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki and former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at the time of their resignations.

The YouGov poll was conducted Sept. 26-28 among 1,000 U.S. adults using a sample selected from YouGov's opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the adult U.S. population. Factors considered include age, race, gender, education, employment, income, marital status, number of children, voter registration, time and location of internet access, interest in politics, religion and church attendance.