The Polling Report for December 15, 2017

A new Public Policy Polling survey finds that 53% of voters think President Trump should resign because of the allegations of sexual harassment against him, while 42% think he should remain in office.

Trump’s approval rate is 41% to 56%, which leads to this interesting point: “Much has been made of Trump’s numbers being so poor despite an improving economy, but only 32% of voters actually say their economic situation has improved in the last year. 22% think it’s gotten worse, and 42% say it’s just stayed the same.”

Looking ahead to the 2018 midterm elections, voters prefer Democrats on the generic congressional ballot by a 51% to 40% margin.

Alan Abramowitz: “When Alabama voters were asked which party they would prefer to control the Senate, 50% chose Republicans while 45% chose Democrats. That is a stunning result — perhaps even more stunning than Jones’s victory. Moreover, only 43% had a favorable opinion of the Republican Party while 47% had a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party.”

Washington Post: “Over the course of Trump’s presidency, Suffolk has asked people to weigh in on their views of Trump multiple times. In March, 45% of Americans viewed Trump favorably, but 86% of those who identified Fox as their most-trusted news network said they did. By June, that number had grown to 90 percent. But in October and in the most recent poll, Trump’s favorability with Fox News viewers has plunged.”

“In March, Fox viewers were 40 points more likely to view Trump positively than were voters overall. By December, they were only 24 points more likely to do so — even though the numbers for Republicans — with which Fox viewership overlaps to some extent — remained fairly high. As you might expect, the percent of Fox viewers who see Trump unfavorably has climbed. In the most recent poll, more than a third of that group says they view him negatively, twice as high as the percentage of Republicans.”

One more number to highlight in the new Des Moines Register poll: Iowans favor electing Democrats to Congress over Republicans by 40% to 34%.

“The finding is notable because Republicans hold three of Iowa’s four congressional seats, including two seen as among the most competitive in the country in 2018. The results are starkest in Iowa’s 1st congressional district, which encompasses 20 northeast Iowa counties and is currently held by two-term Republican U.S. Rep. Rod Blum. Despite the GOP incumbent, 47% of poll respondents in the district say they would vote for a Democrat, while just 29% say they’ll vote Republican.”