Amid the uproar over the Ralph Northam blackface photograph, a Washington Post poll asked Virginians if he should remain governor. The results were striking: Only 48 percent of whites felt that he should stay in office. That percentage was exceeded by the nearly 60 percent of black Virginians who thought […] Read more »
Why do Republicans still back Trump? The answer is simple: Attitude and gratitude
Why do Republicans stick with Donald Trump? It’s a question I’m asked again and again by Democrats, “Never Trumpers,” and journalists. But the answer is simple. Attitude and gratitude. For years, Republican voters wanted someone — anyone — to come along and do two things: stick it to the Clintons […] Read more »
Presidential Approval Up After Last Three States of Union
As President Donald Trump prepares to give the State of the Union address, he is hoping to reap some political benefit from it, as has occurred after the past three such addresses. Trump, in 2018, and Barack Obama, in 2015 and 2016, saw modest two- to four-percentage-point increases in approval […] Read more »
Could Howard Schultz Help Re-elect the President?
At this point in the 1992 election cycle, George H.W. Bush’s approval rating was over 80 percent. A little more than a year later, he trailed the independent candidate Ross Perot in national polls. So it is probably premature to confidently assess whether there’s an opening for Howard Schultz, a […] Read more »
Trump Job Approval Sets New Record for Polarization
The average 79-percentage-point difference between Republicans’ and Democrats’ job approval ratings of President Donald Trump during his second year in office is the largest Gallup has measured in any presidential year to date. The prior record of 77 points was recorded in President Barack Obama’s eighth year in office. CONT. […] Read more »
Why Trump will likely lose the government shutdown
President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House. AP Photo/Alex Brandon John A. Tures, Lagrange College One of the biggest myths about government shutdowns is that presidents usually win. This may explain why President Donald Trump threatened to continue the shutdown for months, even years. However, a […] Read more »