President Donald Trump.
President Donald Trump has reached 50% approval in today's latest Rasmussen daily tracking poll. 49% still disprove of him. Of those that have a strong opinion, 33% strongly approve of his job performance while 39% strongly disapprove. Trump's approval rating is now higher than Barack Obama's during this point of his presidency.
My Comment:
Saw this posted somewhere and thought I would comment. A couple of caveats. First of all, Rasmussen, for whatever reason, tends to give better ratings for the GOP than for the Democrats. This was obvious during the 2016 campaign and it continues today. Considering how off the polls saying Clinton were, it probably isn't that big of a deal, but it is worth mentioning. The RCP arrogate of polls has him at a much more modest 42%, but even that number has approved. You can argue about the exact numbers, but it seems clear that people like Trump better then they have.
2nd of all, this poll only covers likely voters since they are the only ones that actually matter. Trump's approval rating might be different if they added in non-voters, but since they don't vote anyways it's kind of a moot point.
So why has Trump's approval rating gone up? For one, people did see a nice boost in their tax bill and given the fact that those extra dollars in almost everyone's pay have been around for awhile I think it's finally translating to better poll numbers.
Also, Trump has been relatively scandal free lately. He hasn't said anything too dramatic and has avoided any real problems for the last couple of weeks. Sure there was the Stormy Daniels thing but if the past few decades have taught us anything Presidential infidelity does not really affect popularity. Especially when that infidelity took place years ago and his wife doesn't seem to care at all.
It also helps that the Democrats have switched gears considerably. Instead of attacking Donald Trump they are going all out against gun owners and the NRA. Trump took a center path on the issue and though he shook his core supporters with the bump stock ban and a few misguided comments about gun rights, he appealed to the center. This seems to have worked out for him.
Trump also certainly looks like the reasonable one compared to the shrillness of the the Democrats now. They are all in on the Parkland students right now, despite their obvious and glaring flaws as spokespeople. For the first time since Trump has been elected the "big fight" in the country is no longer about him. That's a huge deal for Trump and may be a reason why he's doing better in the polls.
Finally, it also looks like Trump is being very successful with foreign policy. The North Korea breakthrough could be a massive win for him if he can pull it off. Even if he can't, I think he is getting credit for trying. Plus, Trump is talking tough on trade which will be popular among people that work in industries that have to compete with foreign companies.
Time will tell if this will last or not, but I am guessing that as long as Trump can keep his foot out of his mouth and avoid any major scandals he should be doing fine in terms of approval. The people that hate him will still hate him, but if he continues to win over undecided voters and moderates he and the GOP should be in good shape.
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