They may like their nominee a bit less than usual. But increasingly, they're happy with the GOP itself: 8 in 10 Republicans have a favorable opinion of their party right now, according to a Pew Research Center survey out Thursday — 13 percent more than felt the same way back in June:

It's actually pretty normal for voters to feel warmer and fuzzier about their party after a convention. That's the whole point of a convention: to rally the troops and get them excited about November.

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But we weren't quite expecting to see this significant of a bump in party unity after the Republicans' convention in Cleveland. A number of Republican lawmakers didn't even attend, so controversial is their nominee. And in the weeks afterward, Donald Trump stumbled into some pretty epic controversies: He:

- tangled with the family of a fallen soldier

- made comments that some felt suggested violence against Hillary Clinton

- falsely claimed President Obama founded the Islamic State

- played defense on several investigative reports about a top aide's ties to a pro-Russian party in Ukraine

- dealt with some high-profile unendorsements

- shook up his campaign management — again — less than three months before Election Day

- was publicly at risk of losing red states such as Georgia and Arizona to Clinton

By traditional measures, Trump is performing terribly in the general election campaign so far. And the polls bear that out. A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found that in a four-way contest including Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, just 77 percent of Republican voters plan to support Trump, a notably low number in today's hyper-partisan world.

By comparison, 88 percent of Democrats say they'll vote for Clinton.

And yet, for all the talk by Republican elites who think Trump is a disaster for the party and are predicting doom and gloom, this Pew survey provides a reminder that a majority of the party's voters aren't necessarily unhappy with the way things are going.