President Trump's approval & our view of the direction of the country
Bottom Line: This is a weekly story to get a reality/temperature check regarding what's really going on with public opinion of the President and our view of the direction of the country. First here's the high point, low point and current ratings for President Trump...
- Trump's lowest ratings: 37% approval and 59% disapproval: -22% (8/4/17)
- Trump highest approval ratings 45% approval and 43% disapproval (1/27/17): +2%
- Trump's current ratings: 44% approval and 54% disapproval: -10%
Surprise! President Trump’s approval rating rose by four points this week. With the best economy in a generation there are plenty of reasons for the President’s approval rating to be on the rise but there’s nothing especially different about the economy today compared to a week or two ago today and what we’re seeing within many of the polls might be painting a picture of backlash against the Kavanaugh tactics. I’ll explain in a moment. All pollsters using registered or likely voters are showing significant increases in the President’s approval rating over two weeks ago. What’s changed over two weeks ago politically to meaningfully improve the President’s approval rating? Yesterday I shared research from Gallup which showed that the Kavanaugh accusations were not having a negative impact on our view of Brett Kavanaugh. As politicians on the left have increasingly stated they believe the accusations without any evidence or even a witness willing to adhere to our system of due process, it’s possible that a possible backlash is underway.
- With adult only samples his rating over the past week averaged: 38%
- Registered voters: 44%
- Likely voters: 48%
For comparison's sake President Obama's average approval rating on this date in his second year in office was one point higher than President Trump's rating but with likely voters it was three points lower than President Trump’s.
Looking at the direction of the country this week...
Where we stood on Inauguration Day:
- Right Direction: 30%
- Wrong Track: 59%
- Net: -29%
Today:
- Right Direction: 42%
- Wrong Track: 51%
- Net: -9%
Change: +20% under Trump & +3% over a week ago
December 8th of 2012 was the last day we were as optimistic as we are today and prior to that day you have to go back to the start of the Obama administration in January of 2009. In other words, we’re the second most optimistic we’ve been in a decade. It adds up with the recent polling demonstrating a record low number of Americans with economic concerns.
Until next week...