A major pollster has timely news for the White House which reveals record-breaking favorability numbers for President Trump, part of an ongoing sweep of positive findings that suggests the public is finally warming to the president’s intent to make — and keep — America great.
Perhaps the nation is even ready to ride the popular and proverbial “Trump Train” — a persistent symbol which has reinforced the idea of determination, purpose and unity since Mr. Trump’s campaign days.
The numbers have been very telling in recent weeks.
Recent research from Moody’s Analytics, for example, concluded Mr. Trump’s reelection chances are “very good.” A Monmouth University found that 62% of those who approve of Mr. Trump say absolutely “nothing” will shake their support. A CNN survey said 76% of Americans agreed the economy is good. Rasmussen Reports revealed that 73% of voters predict the president will not be forced out of office.
And now comes a bell ringer from Gallup.
“President Trump’s job approval rating has risen to 49%, his highest in Gallup polling since he took office in 2017,” wrote Jeffrey M. Jones, a Gallup analyst who noted that the president gets positive reviews from 94% of Republicans.
In the impeachment arena, the poll found that 52% of Americans now favor acquitting Mr. Trump.
Mr. Jones cited such influences as the positive developments in foreign trade, public approval of the recent attack on Iranian terrorists, and the burgeoning economy.
“Americans’ confidence in the economy is higher than at any point in the past two decades. Similarly, national satisfaction is the highest in nearly 15 years,” Mr. Jones said.
“Sixty-three percent of Americans now approve of the way Trump is handling the economy, up six points from the prior reading in November,” the analyst wrote. “It is the highest economic approval rating not only for Trump, but for any president since George W. Bush enjoyed stratospheric job approval ratings in the first few months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.”
The GOP is also getting a bump.
“As Trump’s job approval rating has improved, so has the image of the Republican Party,” Mr. Jones said. “Now, 51% of Americans view the Republican Party favorably, up from 43% in September. It is the first time GOP favorability has exceeded 50% since 2005. Meanwhile, 45% of Americans have a positive opinion of the Democratic Party, a slight dip from 48% in September.”
OH YES, AND ABOUT IOWA
The “utter incompetence” displayed during the Iowa caucuses has taken a huge toll on the state’s much coveted role as the starting point for presidential elections, says Matthew Wilson, associate professor of political science at Southern Methodist University.
“Iowa has really undermined its case for retaining first-in-the-nation status. If you’re going to receive all of this attention and all of these candidate resources, you have to get it right. The debacle just compounds the criticisms of Iowa that already existed — that it is demographically unrepresentative, it’s time-consuming caucus procedure depresses participation, and that its preference tabulation procedures are arcane and opaque. I would be very surprised if it retained its status in 2024 without major changes,” Mr. Wilson observes.
“If Iowa loses its status, however, it will be a loss for American democracy in some important ways. The intimate nature of the Iowa caucuses actually encourages face-to-face interactions between supporters of different candidates, and Iowa voters get to know the contenders in a much deeper way than the citizens of most states. Letting a big state go first would prioritize political mass marketing and media barrages over retail politics, which would make it harder for underdogs. But the utter incompetence shown last night by the Iowa Democratic Party may have forced the issue,” the professor concludes.
BERNIE SHARES HIS OWN RESULTS
The dust has not quite settled Iowa after the Democratic Party failed to tally the results of the caucuses in a timely manner. The campaign behind Sen. Bernard Sanders’ bid for the White House has issued its own “unofficial” report of who won the preliminary bout.
“It was a bad night for democracy, for the Democratic Party, and for the people of Iowa,” said campaign manager Faiz Shakir in an open letter to Sanders fans.
“We want to share the numbers that we have at this moment. Our internal results sent to us by precinct captains around the state indicate that with close to 60% of the vote in, we have a comfortable lead. Our numbers also show Pete Buttigieg is currently in second, followed by Elizabeth Warren, then Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden,” Mr. Shakir noted in the message.
“Let me reiterate that these are unofficial results, but we wanted to share them to let you know we feel very good about where we are at right now as we head to New Hampshire,” he said.
“It is simply unacceptable that the Iowa Democratic Party cannot release votes in a timely way, so we will continue to update you with our numbers as we await a final, official result. But again, we feel very good about where we are right now, and you should, too,” Mr. Shakir advised.
FOXIFIED
Fox News continues to outperform its rivals CNN and MSNBC — and in a big way, according to Nielsen Media Research. The network averaged 3.4 million prime-time viewers last week, compared to 1.5 million who tuned in to MSNBC and 1 million who favored CNN. Prime-time favorites ” Tucker Carlson Tonight” and “The Ingraham Angle” enjoyed their highest-rated weeks in history with 4.1 million and 3.8 million viewers, respectively.
Fox News was also the most watch network in the entire cable kingdom, besting such non-news rivals as ESPN and HGTV.
During coverage of the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday, Fox News ratings also soared to 4.3 million viewers.
The Fox Business Network show ” Lou Dobbs Tonight,” meanwhile, marked its 100th consecutive weekly win over CNBC in the 7 p.m. time slot, according to Nielsen. The show also scored his 57th straight week as the No. 1 business program on television.
POLL DU JOUR
• 72% of U.S. voters “strongly support” the nomination of President Trump as the Republican candidate for president.
• 16% “somewhat support” Mr. Trump’s nomination as the Republican candidate.
• 5% “strongly support” a different candidate’s nomination.
• 4% “somewhat support” a different candidate’s nomination.
• 3% don’t know or have no opinion.
Source: A Politico/Morning Consult poll of 1,992 registered U.S. voters conducted Jan. 29-30.
• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.
© Copyright (c) 2020 News World Communications, Inc.
—-
This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology.
Recent Comments