… Attracting and sustaining majority support has traditionally represented a North Star for American presidents. The showdown over the shutdown, perhaps more than any earlier decision, makes clear that Trump is setting his course by a very different compass. Trump has abandoned any pretense of seeking to represent majority opinion […] Read more »
The Shutdown Is Hurting Trump’s Approval Rating. But Will It Hurt Him in 2020?
The partial government shutdown is beginning to drag on President Trump’s approval rating, which is at its lowest point in months. … There shouldn’t be much doubt that the shutdown is behind the negative turn in Trump’s numbers. While there have been other newsworthy events over the past few weeks, […] Read more »
Party Unity Hasn’t Cracked Under The Weight Of The Shutdown
Both congressional Democrats and Republicans have demonstrated strong party unity during the partial government shutdown, which has now gone on for 26 days and is the longest shutdown in U.S. history. This level of party discipline echoes what happened in 2017 and 2018, suggesting the midterms didn’t change the broader […] Read more »
Most Border Wall Opponents, Supporters Say Shutdown Concessions Are Unacceptable
With the partial shutdown of the federal government in its third week, both opponents and supporters of expanding the U.S.-Mexico border wall overwhelmingly oppose making concessions to end the stalemate. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that majority of Americans (58%) continue to oppose substantially expanding the border wall, […] Read more »
Why does the GOP persist?
Why do they persist? The evidence is clear: voters oppose a wall, oppose the shutdown, and favor reopening the government without funding the wall, seeing far better ways to protect the border. … And voters are clearly blaming Trump and the GOP for a shutdown few Americans want. Republicans are […] Read more »
Trump has boxed himself in on the shutdown with nowhere to go
New polling indicates that President Donald Trump does not have a winning option to get out of this partial government shutdown, and his position is deteriorating. Let’s start with the most important fact when it comes to gaming out the shutdown: the President is becoming more unpopular. His net approval […] Read more »