Donald Trump’s personal approval might be languishing at 40.5%—but his policies are astonishingly popular among voters.
Rather than simply survey Trump’s approval rating, the latest poll from the Committee to Defend the President asked 2,967 likely voters various questions about Trump’s agenda.
When asked whether or not voters supported Trump’s primary accomplishments as President—like appointing Neil Gorsuch as a Supreme Court Justice, supporting women in science, and his “Hire American” and “Buy American” initiatives to promote manufacturing—a whopping 56% said that they approved, while just 24% disapproved. These policies received wide support, regardless of gender and age.
When it comes to President Trump’s budget spending plans, like increasing funding for national defense and law enforcement, 53% approved and 32% did not approve.
The poll also rehashed the 2016 election—asking voters whether they would feel safer with President Trump in office or with Hillary Clinton in office. 46% felt safer with Trump, and just 38% felt safer with Hillary Clinton. Likewise, 44% of voters believe that President Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan have a better vision for the country, compared to just 37% who believe that Clinton and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi do.
Democrats have long planned to fight the 2018 and 2020 elections solely on the basis of Trump’s relative unpopularity. But after losing four special elections in a row, it’s clear that winning back the votes of the American people will require the Democrats to develop an actual vision for the country, rather than just ride a wave of anti-Trump sentiment.
But even that could bring its own difficulties: regardless of voters’ personal feelings towards Trump, they overwhelmingly back his biggest policy objectives.