President Donald Trump’s approval rating has inched up to 32 per cent, one point above last week’s record low, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday — but registered voters still favour Democrats over Republicans by a wide margin with the November 3 midterm elections just six days away.
The five-day nationwide poll found voters preferred Democrats 47 per cent to 36 per cent on the generic congressional ballot, an 11-point gap that narrowed by one point from the previous week’s poll. When undecided voters were asked which party they leaned toward, the Democratic lead tightened to nine points, 50 per cent to 41 per cent, according to Reuters.
A steep Senate climb
Political analysts generally see Democrats with a good chance of winning control of the House of Representatives, but facing a steeper climb in the Senate, where Republicans hold structural advantages in state-by-state contests. Losing either chamber would complicate Trump’s agenda in the final two years of his second term, Reuters noted.
The findings echo other recent polling. A survey by The Economist and YouGov conducted October 10–12 put Trump’s approval at 38 per cent against 61 per cent disapproval, with 67 per cent disapproving of his handling of inflation. Ten recent polls compiled by analysts show Democrats leading by between five and 12 percentage points, with Democrats holding a 54 per cent lead over Republicans among political centrists, according to ActiVote data cited in coverage.
The campaign’s closing days
Trump has centred his closing strategy on his own presence, holding near-daily rallies and telling a Republican midterms convention in Dallas in September to pretend he was on the ballot one more time, according to campaign coverage. He has also promised a $5,000 dividend for every adult American if Republicans keep control of Congress — a proposal whose legality and estimated $1 trillion cost remain in question — alongside bailouts for farmers and eased sanctions on Canada to help border towns hit by fuel costs.
With early voting already under way across the country and millions of ballots cast, the final week is expected to be dominated by turnout efforts on both sides.
