President Donald Trump has recorded a modest improvement in favorability in a poll conducted by pollster TIPP, which correctly predicted the winner of each of the past six presidential elections. His favorable rating rose to 40 percent while his unfavorable rating fell to 50 percent, narrowing his net deficit from 12 points in July to 10 points in August, the latest I&I/TIPP survey shows. The change offers Republicans a measure of encouragement before the midterm elections, although it is too small to establish a clear shift beyond sampling error.
Independent voters remain the greatest concern for the party because their job approval assessment of Trump weakened. Trump appears to have recovered some of the ground lost during an early-summer decline, when his net favorability reached minus 16 points in June. Still, his latest rating remains underwater, and the findings provide no evidence of a broad or statistically conclusive realignment.
The I&I/TIPP Poll, published August 31, found that 40 percent of adults held a favorable opinion of Trump and 50 percent viewed him unfavorably. Six percent said they did not know enough to answer, while 4 percent were unsure. A month earlier, the split was 39 percent favorable to 52 percent unfavorable.
June’s result had been weaker at 37 percent favorable and 53 percent unfavorable. The latest national online survey questioned 1,461 adults from August 25 through August 28 and reported a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. Because the monthly changes are small relative to that margin, the shift in Trump's favorability can be interpreted as stabilization rather than a sustained rebound.
Democratic respondents remained overwhelmingly opposed to Trump, but their assessment became less negative. Some 16 percent viewed him favorably and 77 percent unfavorably, compared with 13 percent and 81 percent, respectively, in July. That changed his net favorability among Democrats from minus 68 to minus 61.
Republican opinion was broadly stable, with 73 percent favorable and 18 percent unfavorable. Independents registered 27 percent favorable and 61 percent unfavorable, little changed from the previous month’s 28-to-61 split. Favorability measures voters’ general feelings about a political figure.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
