John Boehner the big winner in ConservativeHome's January tracking poll

ConservativeHome's monthly tracking poll* of Republican activists should make John Boehner happy.

Conservatives not only strongly believe that Republicans will maintain control of the House of Representatives in 2012, they also rewarded Boehner's "month of tears and transparency" with a higher approval rating.

With 80% of voters giving him a thumbs-up this month, he passed Sarah Palin as the most highly-approved individual on the list presented to respondents. Only Fox News and the Tea Party get higher marks.

In particular:

• While respondents are less confident today than last month that the White House and Senate will be in Republican hands after 2012, they remain highly confident that the GOP will continue to hold the House.
• 2012 hopefuls Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and Mike Huckabee either remained steady or dropped in their approval ratings from last month, but Boehner's rating rose from 71% to 80%.
• Boehner's not the only congressional leader to have had a good month. Mitch McConnell's public leadership at the start of the 112th Congress has also rewarded him with an approval bounce from 44% to 53%.

The ConservativeHome tracking survey asks respondents their views on which party will control the White House and Congress after the 2012 elections, and asks them to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to a number of people and organizations. 

How many respondents think that the following will be in Republican hands after the 2012 elections?

	Dec 2010	Jan 2011
White House	71%	64%
Senate	75%	70%
House of Representatives	93%	93%

 

When asked to whom they give a thumbs-up, here's what respondents say:

(results listed from biggest gainers to biggest losers)

Dec 2010 Jan 2011 John Boehner     71%     80% Mitch McConnell     44%     53% Mitch Daniels     28%     35% Tim Pawlenty     50%     55% Wall Street Journal     58%     62% RNC     27%     31% Chris Christie     74%     77% Jim DeMint     57%     59% Tea Party     89%     91% Mike Pence     43%     44% John Thune     38%     39% Rush Limbaugh     75%      76% Rand Paul     68%       69% George W. Bush     72%     72% Fox News     92%     92% Sarah Palin     75%     73% Maro Rubio     76%     75% Jeb Bush     56%     55% John McCain     28%     27% Bobby Jindal     74%     71% Mike Huckabee     66%     63% Newt Gingrich     69%     61% Mitt Romney     63%     54% *The Republican Panel has been assembled for ConservativeHome by YouGov. Each monthly poll in this tracking poll consisted of approximately 850 individuals, all of whom are self-identified Republicans, and a large majority of whom actively give money or time to political candidates.