According to CNN, polls say Republican Party has highest favorability number in seven years...

[Still In Wisconsin]

Whaaaa? Maybe this country IS just that stupid.

Just less than half of Americans -- 45% -- said they have a favorable view of the Republican party, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. And while the party fears a difficult midterm Election Day in November, this is the highest favorable view of the party since January 2011, when the party hit 47%, immediately after retaking Congress during the 2010 midterm elections.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/24/politics/republican-party-favorability/index.html

[Meadowoak]

1. Not stupid, but they vote every time, while we stay home and wash socks.

[brush]

3. Or say she didn't inspire me, or he didn't deliver my pony.

[George II]

10. Or say our candidate isn't "perfect" (i.e., pure) enough.

[brush]

2. Don't fall for it. Gallup is notoriously right-leaning.

[RainCaster]

4. I smell bullshit in this

from a mile away. Hell, much further than that.

[Awsi Dooger]

5. If 538 did a compilation on that number

It wouldn't be close to 45%

But unquestionably higher than a year ago at this time. The timing isn't great toward where the midterm falls in relation to numbers like that

[MattP]

6. They predicted Mittens would beat Obama

They oversample white people and said they were going to get out of the horserace so i could care less

[Loki Liesmith]

7. When will DUers learn to understand sampling variability?

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

8. all those "I'm really more of a libertarian" GOPers

came home. They all were ashamed to admit they were Republican after Dubya collapsed.
They're happily in Trump's campaign, but, after the midterms and Donnie becomes a liability, you'll likely see them start sliding away again.

[JHan]

9. I'm not really surprised.

Even though it's a small sample size, it can give some insight about sentiment if the margin of error is right and the methodology sound.

Last year the results were different because of the failure of Republicans to fully repeal the ACA, now with midterms, tax cuts and a SCOTUS seat on the line, wary Republicans and Libertarian types are warming up to the GOP. Trump is reaping the rewards of Obama putting the economy on even footing after 2008. When the full effect of tariffs and sadistic policies in the tax cut are felt, a Democrat will likely have to fix things again.

So while the White House can certainly point to some yardsticks that indicate a meaningful turnaround on Trump's watch — including small business sentiment, business investment and goods-producing job growth — broader measures of the overall job market and wages show the economy continues to follow the steady, upward glide path that began under Obama.

Often, voters claim they care about "the economy", when they don't fully grasp the dynamics of why an economy is on the up or down. There's also some tunnel vision in how you assess the success of an administration. Human Development indices aren't considered as strongly as they should be, opportunity costs aren't factored in and I'm more interested in questions like these:

How does the U.S compare to other countries when it comes to Mortality rates, life expectancy, civil rights and social justice, purchasing power, cost of living, manufacturing output?

What is the quality of healthcare services, do more people have access to affordable healthcare or less?

How many "Unicorns" are funded in the U.S?

How does the U.S rank in technological innovation, science, and education compared to her global counterparts?

What is the state of infrastructure compared to other global powerhouses?

The U.S also ranks 20th in the Global Broadband Speed League, how is this being addressed? - because it's a big problem.

How do we rank compared to other countries when it comes to Domestic Terrorism?

How effective is Congress compared to other Governments?