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Among Republicans and Republican leaners, a 52% majority say Congress would be better off if most of the current members were replaced — even though the GOP now controls the House and holds most of those seats.

"This is a real warning about the GOP pursuing this strategy in 2014," says Steven Schier, a political scientist at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., and co-author of American Government and Popular Discontent, published this spring. "The telling moment will come in January and February, when we face another debt limit and a possible shutdown."

In the aftermath of the shutdown, though, Republicans clearly are bearing the brunt of the blame. By 2-to-1, 39%-19%, those surveyed say Republicans deserve more blame, not Democrats.

Even Republicans, presumably inclined to blame the other side, are divided about whether responsibility belongs to the Democrats are to both parties equally. That's not true among Democrats: Eight in 10 say the GOP is largely to blame.

Democrats by 2-1, 22%-11%, have a more favorable opinion of their party in the aftermath of the shutdown.

But the GOP takes a hit among its own troops, highlighting the divide between those who align with the Tea Party and those who don't. Tea Party Republicans, a little more than a third of all Republicans and those who lean to the GOP, applaud the recent tactics: By 29%-18%, they say events of the last few weeks have given them a more favorable rather than less favorable opinion of the party.

For Republicans and Republican leaners who don't support the Tea Party, their view of the GOP has gotten worse. By 27%-12%, they have a less favorable rather than more favorable opinion.

One more sign of trouble for the GOP: By nine points, Americans who live in districts they say are represented by a Republican say the deadlock has made them less likely to vote for the incumbent. Those who say they are represented by a Democrat are by one point more likely to support him or her. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/10/21/usa-today-poll-
shutdown-boost-for-democrats-bane-for-gop/3143281/

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