New Emerson College ePoll: Trump, Congressional Democrats, Voter Excitement on the Rise 4-Months from Midterm Elections

BOSTON, July 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A mid-year Emerson College ePoll finds President Trumps' Job approval rating at 43% and his disapproval at 50% which is an improvement from January's Emerson epoll that found the President's approval at 39% and disapproval at 52%. The President continues to maintain support among the 35-54 age group, a core constituency of his base, with an approval of 51% to 42%. However, his approval ranking is lowest in the Midwest - with 40% approval and 54% disapproval.

The financial situation of voters could be a major reason for the improvement in Trump's approval rating. When asked if they (voters) were better or worse off financially than they were two years ago 42% responded better off, while 26% said worse off. Males appear to be doing better in a Trump economy than females: 49% of males reported doing better, while 21% said they were doing worse. Alternatively 36% of females reported they were better off, while 30% said they were doing worse.

Despite a general positive view of finances among voters and improved approval for the President, the Democrats have extended their lead in a generic Congressional Ballot Test from 45% to 40% in January, to 49% to 42% in the current poll. The Midwest shows an 18 point lead for the generic Democratic candidate, 52% to 34%. The youth vote break for the Democrats by an even larger 24 point margin - 58% to 34%.

Enthusiasm for the primaries has increased, with 50% reporting now being very excited, a jump of 10 points from January, when 40% reported being very excited. In both polls, Democrats are slightly more excited than Republicans - currently that gap is 55%-52%.

Overall, voters prefer a capitalist economic system over a socialist system 54% to 24%. Party preference shows a clear demarcation on this issue. Those who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 support a Socialist economic system 37% to 34%, while those who voted for Trump supported a capitalist system 76% to 9%.

The abortion issue appears to be very important in determining how a majority (53%) of voters will cast their ballots in November. The legality of the issue among these voters is not as clear. 

The survey found that 14% of voters want abortions always to be illegal. 28% believe abortion should be illegal most of the time, but with exceptions, and 34% said abortion should be legal most of the time, but with exceptions.  24% believed abortion should be legal at all the time without exception.  Interestingly, Hispanics are most supportive of a total ban of abortions at 30%, with Blacks (14%) and Whites (12%) less supportive.

A plurality of voters finds Russia (34%) to be the United States' biggest foreign adversary, followed by China (21%) and North Korea. However this differs by party affiliation; Democrats reported Russia as the biggest adversary at 49%, Republicans reported China as top adversary at 25%. However, there was consensus among all voters when asked if Russia was a friend or foe to the United States of America: 59% opted for "Foe" and 15% identifying Russia as a "Friend."

The survey also found 59% of voters support legalized Marijuana for private use, with 31% opposing.

Thirty-one percent (31%) of those surveyed believe the world has been visited by Aliens. Those who voted for President Trump in 2016 were more likely to believe in alien visitation (38%) than those who voted for Hillary Clinton (25%).  

Methodology

July 6 and 7, registered voters, n=900, mixed mode (IVR/Online), +/- 3.4 percentage points.  More available at http://www.emersonpolling.com.  

Media contact:
Cole Mootz
[email protected] 
617-824-3491

SOURCE Emerson College Polling

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