Weekly political update – Where news & perceptions meet reality
Bottom Line: This is your weekly reality check. What's really going on with public opinion of the president and our view of the direction of the country? Here it is...
- Trump's lowest rating: 37% approval (8/4/17)
- Trump highest approval rating: 47% approval (2/20/20)
- Trump's current rating: 45% approval
It’s been a week dominated by major news stories. The coronavirus, the financial markets, Super Tuesday. Big stories with significant impact on most Americans. They all have something else in common. Uncertainty. We don’t know where or exactly how any of these stories will resolve themselves. What we have seen is that there’s been a slightly negative impact to President Trump’s approval on back of the cycle. He’s off a couple of points from a few weeks ago,though we continue to see that as usual the more informed and engaged people are, the more likely they are to approve of President Trump.
- Adult only samples: 44%
- Registered voters: 46%
- Likely voters: 48%
What you never hear reported are the ratings of the Democratic leaders opposing him. Here’s the latest...
- Pelosi: 40%
- Schumer: 30%
Much less approved of than President Trump. As has been the case right along but there’s a different dynamic that comes to mind. The biggest political story of the week unrelated to Super Tuesday is the conduct of Democrat leaders. On Tuesday, former DNC Chair Donna Brazil told current RHC Chair Rhona McDaniel to “go to hell”. On Wednesday the Democrat’s Senate leader Chuck Schumer said this: I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price! You won’t know what hit you...
These are instructive and dangerous statements from the party that has long preached tolerance. Their leadership is anything but. What’s more is this comes after a Bernie Sanders supporter bent on killing Congressional Republicans shot up a baseball field nearly killing Steve Scalise. These words, these threats are dangerous and its crystal clear what the party of hate looks like.There should, at a minimum, be a political price paid for this type of behavior.
Looking at the direction of the country this week...
Where we stood on Inauguration Day:
- Right Direction: 30%
Today:
- Right Direction: 39%
Overall, we’re 9% more optimistic than in the aggregate of the Obama years.The virus has taken another two points of starch out of our optimism this week. We’re now 4% less optimistic since the onset of the coronavirus fears.