Gallup Poll: Congressional GOP Approval Soars, Surpassing Dems
With elections less than eight months away, congressional Republicans are more in favor with Americans than congressional Democrats are, according to a new Gallup poll.
The poll found that 40 percent of respondents believe congressional Republicans are doing a good job while only 35 percent said Democrats were doing well.
When Gallup surveyed the nation in September 2017, before the 2018 elections that saw Democrats gain control of the House, Democrats enjoyed a 31 percent approval rating, but congressional Republicans were at 20 percent approval.
In October 2019, 38 percent approved of the work congressional Democrats were doing against 34 percent of Republicans.
President Donald Trump’s favorability rating rose from 41 percent in October to 48 percent in January before settling at 46 percent in the February poll. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents gave Trump an 89 percent favorability rating.
“Republicans in Congress appear to have benefited from the impeachment of the president, as they are currently enjoying improved job approval ratings,” Gallup said in its analysis of the poll.
Gallup cautioned against the poll being an election bellwether.
“In the coming months, as Americans’ memories of the impeachment fade, their opinions of political leaders may change. The coronavirus outbreak and the Democratic presidential nominating contests have already largely superseded Trump’s impeachment in the news,” it said.
The poll found that Republicans are stronger in support of their party’s members in Congress than are Democrats. Seventy-six percent of Republicans approve of what GOP legislators are doing in Congress, an increase of 13 points from Gallup’s October survey. Sixty-five percent of Democrats support their legislators, a level that is unchanged from the fall.
One exception to the rule was Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah. Romney, who sided with Democrats in Trump’s impeachment trial, had his favorability among Republicans drop from 45 percent a year ago to 23 percent this year. Democrats, on the other hand, have embraced the long-time Trump critic, with his favorability rating among Democrats at 56 percent, up 19 points from what it was a year ago.
The Gallup poll was conducted via telephone between Feb. 17-28 with a random sample of 1,020 voters and a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said that Republican candidates for the House will have Trump on their side, according to Axios.
The president is “going to travel for us. If you look at where we’re playing, he’ll be going. He’s already made that commitment to me,” McCarthy said.
“He and I talk twice a day. We meet often about these races. He is committed,” McCarthy said. “He’ll be in these competitive districts and more.”
Tim Murtaugh, communications director for the Trump campaign, said the focus will be on turnout.
“Nationwide there were 8.8 million people who voted in 2016 and did not vote in 2018. We can say with full confidence that we know who they are, and we will be going after them hard,” Murtaugh said.
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