A new Reuters-Ipsos poll of Donald Trump’s presidential approval rating shows what it calls “a significant realignment this week across a number of metrics.”
The numbers are startling.
Trump’s numbers are up across the board, with 48% now approving. The improvement in attitudes toward his job performance is equally bright.
Most pronounced is President Trump’s approval rating which currently sits at 48% with all Americans. His number with registered voters is essentially the same at 49%. Corresponding with Trump’s stronger approval rating, evaluations of his job performance across the board are stronger this week from 57% approving of his handling of the economy to 44% approving of the way he treats people like them. On the generic congressional ballot, our current poll shows a +5-point advantage for Democrats, the smallest lead we’ve seen in recent weeks.
If Trump’s numbers stay steady through election day, Democrats can virtually kiss their dreams of a majority goodbye. Many analysts believe the Democrats must carry a double-digit preference over the GOP into the November midterms to flip the House.
Americans also report being more happy with the direction of the country in this week’s poll, currently 40% say we are going in the right direction. Public perceptions of the main problems facing America continues to be diffuse, with healthcare (17%), terrorism (14%), immigration (11%), and the economy (11%) all snagging share of attention.
That right/wrong direction number is more bad news for Democrats. Note also that 3 of the 4 issues Americans are worried about are strong GOP issues.
But Reuters felt it necessary to rain on the parade:
This week’s Reuters/Ipsos Core Political release presents something of an outlier of our trend. Every series of polls has the occasional outlier and in our opinion this is one. So, while we are reporting the findings in the interest of transparency, we will not be announcing the start of a new trend until we have more data to validate this pattern.
Technically, they are on solid ground. But is this poll really an “outlier”?
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 51% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Forty-nine percent (49%) disapprove.
Eighty-one percent (81%) of Republicans like the job the president is doing; 75% of Democrats don’t. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 47% approve; 51% disapprove.
The latest figures include 33% of all likely voters who Strongly Approve of the way the president is performing and 40% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -7.
Admittedly, Rasmussen tends to skew GOP, but their numbers are not that different from the Reuters poll, which certainly doesn’t favor Republicans.
A week of Stormy, Cohen, and Rudy has apparently gone in one ear of the voters and out the other. There is widespread disbelief and distrust in the media, which is nothing new for Trump supporters and many Republicans, but it appears to now be affecting independents.
If these polls become trends, a Democratic takeover of the House will become a distant dream.
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