Democrats oblivious to rising tide of unhappy voters may be shocked by Republican midterm wins – and possibly even shocked by the electorate in the two most conservative regions of the country, according to a new poll.
There’s been a lot of debate over whether the political climate in America has improved during President Trump’s first two-plus terms, or if the country has gone backwards.
There’s been another poll out today, one from The Atlantic, which reveals widespread disillusionment with both parties, a clear majority of voters who have little confidence that either party would be able to fix the country’s problems, and that the electorate is less polarized than last cycle.
To wit, The Atlantic:
In the year since the election of President Trump, Americans have grown progressively more dissatisfied with both parties and with the American political system as a whole. In 2018, that dissatisfaction has expanded to nearly every demographic group except the young and college-educated, and the share of voters who are dissatisfied with the two major parties has surged.
Perhaps the most surprising conclusion from this poll is that the electorate in both the most liberal and most conservative regions of the country is less polarized than the electorate was in the last cycle.
In the liberal heartland, a clear majority – 54 percent – of voters now say they believe the president will do a good job. That’s double the number of voters who would say the same in June 2018.
Meanwhile, in the most conservative region of the country, 58 percent of voters say they believe their president will do a good job. Again, that’s double the number of voters who would say the same in June 2018.
Overall, 56 percent of voters in these two regions view the president negatively, compared with 45 percent who view him favorably. That’s a clear increase from the 47 to 48 percent who viewed him negatively in the last midterms.
The Atlantic notes that “unhappiness with the president’s performance is greatest in the heartland, where he receives lower approval ratings than in the Great Plains, Rockies, and Southwest.”
And while it isn’t clear if this is a permanent shift in public opinion, these surveys suggest it may