The Mixed Bag that is President Trump

Written by Micah Clark

We are in an era where polling results are often used to make news, and to influence views. A case in point are the polls about support for President Trump in an era when the news about him is constantly negative.

Donald Trump is clearly the most unusual and unorthodox president of my lifetime, if not in all of U.S. History. He routinely says things, and does things, that probably give election and political advisors severe heartburn. Whether his rhetoric and demeanor still connect with a majority of voters remains to be seen. (His large rallies seem to indicate that there is a significant base of voters who do support this.)

Gallup has an interesting poll this month that reveals something the mainstream media will likely not ever tell its readers or viewers. Donald Trump is not as popular as President Trump. When pollsters ask if Donald Trump is popular, they get one result, and it isn’t very good. Yet, if they dig further and ask if his presidential policies are supported, there is a very different polling outcome.

Americans are significantly more likely to approve of President Trump’s policies than they are of Donald Trump himself. The point spread ranges from +6 to + 11 for his policies and agenda over Trump the individual.

For example, according to Gallup, 76 percent of Republicans support Donald Trump the man. However, 87 percent approve of Donald Trump’s job performance.   People who attend church weekly have a similarly large gap – 44 percent approve of Trump the person, whereas 54 percent approve of the job Trump is doing as President. There is only one inversion in the poll. Democrats support for Trump the person is 6 percent . . . their approval of him as President is 5 percent.  According to Gallup, (other polls have higher numbers) overall, 40 percent of Americans support the job Trump is doing, with only 34 percent approving of him personally.

This article was originally published by AFA of Indiana.