Trump has a 91 percent approval rating among Republicans

[oberliner]

This is an important fact to bear in mind. For all of the insanity and the lies that have emanated from Trump to this point, only 5 percent of Republicans disapprove of the job he is doing so far.

Here is the poll that shows Trump with a 91-5 approval/disapproval split among Republicans.

https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2436

If he can do and say the things that he has done and said and still have over 90 percent approval rating among Republicans, what does that tell you?

[underthematrix]

1. That's just Russian propaganda

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. "64 - 32 percent that he is intelligent..."

Compared to what?

A stump

[putitinD]

2. Trump could have 100% approval from Republicans, that is still much less than half of the

Country.

[oberliner]

4. Right

But my point is, that Trump is not an anomaly among Republicans. He is representative of what they want in a president.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. "He is representative of what they want in a president."

An unmoored and immoral dictator.

[oberliner]

14. They don't view him that way

It may be pointless, but I think there is some value in trying to understand why he is viewed so favorably by almost all Republicans in this country. It could be helpful in ensuring future electoral success for Democrats.

[Alpeduez21]

39. Republicans like the republican party

That is the point. They don't care about the country, facts, reality, the bible, people, or integrity.

God, how I hate them.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

71. I love you Oberliner, you try to be a decent guy, and above it all, but Post 69 nails it.

Thump and his supporters hate us.

[Adsos Letter]

79. A couple of days ago I watched a FRONTLINE special: "Divided States of America"

I thought it did a good job helping explain Trump's popularity. It's long; 4 hours, in two parts.

In case you haven't seen it: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/divided-states-of-america/

[tblue37]

92. Tribalism. They are just supporting their "team."

[Cosmocat]

69. He is a mean to the liberals

they could give a shit if he is Saddam Hussein ...

As long as the liberals are being held in check.

[LanternWaste]

86. That is one of many possible explanations.

That is one of many possible explanations.

No doubt, you have substantial reason to discount all other explanations, yes?

[oberliner]

87. There are definitely many possible explanations

I am certainly open to considering others. What do you think are some of the more likely ones?

[Phoenix61]

82. Way less

Make-up of who the survey polled
REGISTERED VOTERS PARTY IDENTIFICATION
Republican 24%
Democrat 32
Independent 37
Other/DK/NA 8

[Rhiannon12866]

6. Are these humans?

[BannonsLiver]

7. No, they are conservatives

And there is a difference.

[Rhiannon12866]

13. I was wondering if they were those space aliens we kept hearing about

You know, the ones who flew in just to vote...

[DefenseLawyer]

27. They are authoritarians

They just choose to call themselves conservatives.

[JudyM]

40. That would be an effective descriptor to incorporate into Dem persuasion efforts.

It's a crystallization that doesn't get airtime, and it cuts through their murky BS.

[Alice11111]

9. Bots, with detached wires in the brain. No hearts.

Do not register empathy or compassion.

I can't believe, it's you again.

[Rhiannon12866]

12. LOL! We must be of the same mind tonight... But you know what they say - GMTA!

And I haven't met one yet, at least knowingly. Everybody that I talk to about the election, etc., (which was kind of hard to avoid) was horrified at the thought of Trump and are complaining and/or freaking out as things get even worse. And I live in a traditionally Republican area, but I only saw a total of two Trump bumper stickers and I drive around a lot. And one was a very elderly man eating an ice cream cone...

[WinkyDink]

8. Never underestimate the hatred for Democrats by registered Republicans.

[oberliner]

15. Yep

If Hillary had spoken some of the exact same words that Trump did in his speech, they would be up in arms against her.

[LonePirate]

43. Correction: Never underestimate the hatred by registered Republicans.

They hate everyone who is not white, rich, Christian and healthy.

[Arkansas Granny]

10. Unbelievable. I live in a red state and it really troubles me that

a lot of Trump’s approval stems from their absolute hatred of Obama. When I mentioned to a coworker that I thought Trump was the most divisive President in my lifetime, I was told that no, we just got rid of that one. I have never seen this level of polarization.

Another thing that I find troubling is that some of the people who had doubts about Trump before the election are now solidly behind everything he has done so far. It's like if they criticize him they would somehow be admitting that they made a mistake.

[oberliner]

16. I think there is a psychological underpinning for that

The second paragraph, I mean.

[annabanana]

33. I agree. and the orange one is an absolute avatar for everyone

who cannot, under any circumstances, confront the possibility that they might, might, have been wrong.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

57. Since Trump never admits he is wrong

seems likely a bunch of people are following his lead and doing the same.

[leftynyc]

11. I wonder how much of that

is simply refusing to admit they made a mistake (just like donnie will never made that admission). Authoritarians and their minions have far too much pride to ever do that.

[uponit7771]

18. 75% I know fairly educated people who are just making up their own realities now but as Obama said

... reality has a way of catching up to you.

There's no way we're going to get to 3.9% unemployment, RepubliCare is already a medicare disaster in 4 deep red states, as usual stupid KGOP econ policies are going to explode debt and deficits even more...

That's not counting the social policies and Russia over Benedict Donald's head...

Problem is this will take more than a year to take effect

[oberliner]

19. A sizable percentage of Nixon supporters were able to admit that

He did not have a 90+ percent Republican approval rating after Watergate (it was about 40-50 percent).

[unc70]

32. Took a long time for Nixon to lose support

[Charles Bukowski]

34. Ditto George W Bush.

The bottom didn't fall out for him until his 2nd term.

Trump isn't even two months into his presidency.

[oberliner]

36. But George W Bush was not Trump-like

Trump is beyond anything we've seen, even from Republican presidents, in a very long time.

[RobinA]

70. Yeah, I Agree

I hated Bush with a white hot passion, but Trump is a whole other entity. The rank incompetence is jaw-dropping before you even get to actual policy issues.

[leftynyc]

50. Watergate was a story

long before the threat of impeachment was on the table. Plus he was facing a Democratic majority in congress. Donnie is more popular in many red states than their reps and senators are so there is that also. I'm very interested in seeing where trumpcare goes - if he can't get it passed the first time around, he's weaker than we think he is.

[oberliner]

52. Do you think he will get it passed?

I have a feeling he will.

[leftynyc]

55. Before I saw the news this morning

I didn't even consider it a possibility it wouldn't pass. There seem to be many repubs who think it's a crap bill, MANY conservative organizations hate it - they want to go back to the way it was before the ACA. Will they rally behind their president? That depends on how weak or strong he appears.

[RoadhogRidesAgain]

17. It tells us that so called leftist who "move to the center" in an effort to try and appease

Republicans are idiots.

[oberliner]

20. It definitely doesn't say that

Getting that 5 percent of Republicans who disapprove of Trump could have been decisive in the last election.

[Occulus]

28. I live with one who preferred Sanders over Trump

I think he voted for a different Republican (he says he did and I think he's being honest, he knew Trump was a train wreck) but he was never even considering voting for Clinton.

I imagine that was the case for far more Republicans than the vast majority here will ever be willing to admit.

[oberliner]

29. Hillary was a sort of unique situation

Many Republicans had an irrational hatred of her. A less known middle-of-the-road Democrat might have done better with those folks. Who knows, though.

[Raster]

78. There was AND IS a Hillary Hate universe that we cannot even comprehend...

...far, far, far too many people actually could believe the "demon" and pizzagate bullshit when it came to Hillary. I stopped trying to understand the abso-fuking-lutely crazy.

[leftynyc]

53. We have no way of knowing that

many republicans don't trust him to be conservative. And the libertarians voted for McMullen (I think that was his name).

[m-lekktor]

89. One would have thought calling them deplorables would have won at least %5 over for sure!!

[no_hypocrisy]

21. The pollsters either asked 10 people or they asked more and they're lying.

[oberliner]

24. Sadly, that is not the case

This is a very legitimate poll.

[endarkenment51]

22. he's carrying out the full agenda, why wouldn't they approve?

Trump is an outrageous buffoon, but he is not out of step with his party.

[oberliner]

26. Exactly

Welcome to DU!

[Orrex]

47. 100% correct

I've been saying much the same thing for weeks.

And when Turmp's policies wind up screwing his loyalist Republican base, they'll blame it on Democrats and vote Republican again in 2018 & 2020 and every year thereafter.


They are fucking idiots and should be identified as such every chance we get.

[gopiscrap]

94. welcome to DU

[Exilednight]

23. But Trump said all polls are lies.

[oberliner]

25. He loves polls that make him look good

He only dislikes polls that are unfavorable to him.

Same with news.

[Cary]

30. Republicans are evil

And we must focus all of our energy and our might on defeating evil.

[Barack_America]

31. Great! Considering his overall numbers are so bad...

...that means there must not be many self-identifying Republicans left!

[oberliner]

38. In this survey, they are 25 percent

25 percent Republicans, 32 percent Democrats, 37 percent Independents, and the rest are "Other".

[Barack_America]

44. 5% amongst Dems and 41% amongst Independents.

I am thrilled to see Republicans have decided to rearrange the deck chairs on the SS Trumptanic.

Did you see the sharp turn Trump's Gallup numbers took this weekend? He seems utterly incapable of banking any capital, whether financial or political.

[caroldansen]

35. I'm glad you posted that but I think those people have their numbers wrong. Republicans

Are now split because of the new healthcare bill, I heard on the news this morning.

[oberliner]

37. I'd be curious to see a new survey in a few weeks

I wonder if the number will be lower.

[titaniumsalute]

45. This was from March 2 through 6.

3 days basically of the polling were before the ridiculous tweets about wire tapping. More petty bullshit.

So Trump has hung his hat on this Trumpcare plan that the right seems to hate.Will they blame him? You know he digs in and many times doesn't let up. Will he let up? Will it make him look weak?

[Vinca]

41. That can't possibly be true. For starters, he really hasn't done much other than make

himself look like a raving lunatic.

[titaniumsalute]

42. 91% doesn't think anything about Trump

It doesn't matter who's in office from the right...they would have a 91% approval rating. They hated BO and the left so much they don't care.

The ONLY thing that will change this is a big market crash and a spiraling economy unfortunately. That s the only one thing that many white male Republicans can understand...MONEY!

[oberliner]

49. In 2008, Bush had only a 60 percent approval rating among Republicans

For Trump to be over 90 with Republicans after this crazy month plus is staggering to me.

[WePurrsevere]

60. My head is spinning from all of the Trump craziness but ...

That low approval number was after Bush had been president for almost 8 yrs with a lot of negative BS under his belt.

A more precise comparison would be Bush at the beginning of his first term, after his first address to congress.

[titaniumsalute]

61. That was at the end of his Presidency and the economy was in the shitter

[titaniumsalute]

62. When Bush was inaugurated

He had a 57% approval rating with ALL voters. 25% Disapproval. Trump hasn't gone over about 45% approval in any credible poll (no Rasmussen BS) and in Gallup yesterday was at 43%.

Republicans gave Bush an 88% approval at inauguration and within a few weeks he was over 90%. So this isn't unprecedented at all.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/116500/presidential-approval-ratings-george-bush.aspx

[EleanorR]

66. Exactly. Nothing unusual here. nt

[oberliner]

76. But Bush did not do all these insane things in his first month

I guess, that is my point. Bush was a standard run-of-the-mill Republican. There was no reason for Republicans not to like him. Trump is an unhinged lunatic. Yet, he has a 90+ approval among Republicans.

[titaniumsalute]

83. I undrestand

but the right doesn't see it that way. The WILL understand economic downturn though...or a draft.

[oberliner]

88. Some on the right do at least seem to acknowledge that Trump is "different"

And that his behavior thus far is atypical of a traditional president from either party.

[Alpeduez21]

46. This points out a systemic problem

Very few Republican politicians are speaking against Trump. NO radio shows or fox news are against Trump.

The right wing controls the media. They have a consistent talking points. They stick to the party mantra.

The mantra is liberals are crazy and you don't want to be crazy do you? Look at how awful liberals are you don't want to be awful do you? The information bubble that people put themselves in does a disservice to democracy or even reason. Have you heard Gingrich lately, he is absolutely unhinged. There is no logic to what conservative outlets spew.

As long as congress supports this fascism we, progressives that is, have a long row to hoe.

Don't forget, don't forgive, get out and vote. We will win if we turn out to vote.

[oberliner]

51. Interestingly, this is what Republicans said about Obama

Namely that the MSM was in the tank for him and would never report on him negatively.

[Alpeduez21]

58. That's one of my points

The republicans control the message. They cry about the MSM and we hear their crying b/c the MSM trumpets the Right Wing message for all to hear.

[RobinA]

72. And The Systemic Problem

is way scarier than Trump will ever be. Imagine a competent, intelligent Trump. Although, I will say, it almost seems like that doesn't even matter at the moment. Which returns us to the systemic problem...

[Saboburns]

48. Heres what I say

First i say that Barack Obama didnt divide this country, the hate for Barack Obama did.

Republicans get all their info from a very small circle, and all their souces tell them exactly the same thing. Which is why you never see a Republican ever have an original thought. They say exactly the same thing to each other, the same stuff they've been told over and over their entire lives. Like: taxes suck, Libruls hate America, Republicans save the economy, Demonrats hate the military, Be afraid of Muslims. Black people and Mexicans are criminals. These are their Gospels.

Another thing, and this is most significant, take this latest wire tap story. In any sense of the word its a scandal of epic proportions. But if you watched Fox News yesterday, if you read Republican facebook posts (btw here's the really scary thing, most Americans get their news from Facebook now) look at the Republican message boards , the narrative to this story is THAT RASCAL OBAMA TAPPED DONALD'S PHONES, HOW COME OBAMA AINT BEEN ARRESTED YET. They dont just say this, they believe it. And repeat it among themselves.

Until we understand how Republicans think the way they do, and why they think the way they do, we will never be able to get through to them, because they never even hear our message.

[dalton99a]

54. Trump represents the GOP, and they are loving his shit show.

[WePurrsevere]

56. I'm not that surprised...

I think there are a few factors playing into his Republican approval numbers the biggest of which is that, IME, most Republicans to be very lockstep and loyal to their party. Trump is still a new president so they're going to show that they're going to "give him a chance".

Most of them IME also simply don't seem to research or follow the news as in depth as most Ds and Is I know do. Add to that how popular Fox is with them because of how they package themselves and spoon feed them pre-digested news.

The fact is that his disapproval numbers went down by 'only' 3 points. Although on first look I felt dismayed I realized that these numbers are from a poll just after he managed to sound semi sane and presidential in his address before congress (which was watched mostly by Republicans voters/his supporters) AND that 3 points is on the borderline of the +/- 2.7 margin of error they give in the write up.

I'm not going to let this one poll get me down. I'm going to concentrate on getting the word out more about the Trumps Russia, etc BS going on and fighting the anti-American Republican agenda.

[dem4decades]

59. This doesn't bode well, we need Republicans to

Go against a popular Republican President . That takes courage and there is no courage in the Republican ranks.

[msanthrope]

63. They won't admit to a mistake until he kills enough of their children.

Remember bush in Iraq?

[spanone]

64. they love an asshole

[coco22]

65. They think they are going to get rich...

or richer,or they are racist.

[Denzil_DC]

67. It tells me they're circling the wagons.

There's been a lot of research into partisanship and the effects of negative news stories on presidential polling - donations etc. can actually increase when supporters are feeling like their chosen figurehead is under attack and they're besieged.

But, having said that, it's a spot poll in the immediate aftermath of his "successful" address to Congress. We'll have to see whether there are comparable ones in coming months to get a clearer picture.

[RobinA]

68. The Day After

Trump's speech last week I was in a favorite shop of my father's to let the owners know that my father had passed away. The talk among the all male clientele was about last Tuesday's speech, all agreed it had been great and Trump had "said what needed to be said." They all indicated in so many words that they liked him as President and that he was doing fine. There was no one in the shop disagreeing, so they weren't posturing for the liberals. This is not a shop sporting NRA stickers or Don't Tread On Me flags.

Now, we live in SE Pa. There were no out of work coal miners in there, it was mostly retired from decent jobs white guys with enough money to indulge in a hobby. I just listened, because I just didn't get it. Trump's shenanigans just didn't seem to register at all. There was also no talk of actual areas of agreement with him, just general approval. Weird.

[BlueStater]

73. They hate liberals more than they love America.

I'm done trying to appease them. To hell with them.

They can join civilized, tolerant people in the 21st Century or they can stay behind and go fuck themselves. They've obviously chosen the latter.

[Doodley]

74. Though they may not always see it, most Republicans hold views based on anger, hate and prejudice.

However bad Trump is, he channels that and represents their values.

[TNLib]

75. I don't think Republicans today are very informed

They either stick to Fox News or don't watch any news. Most don't even have cable. They don't read much and what they do read is nonsense Alex Jones, Breitbart ect..
They truly believe most main stream news is fake.

I'm just going by what I see with co-workers family and friends who are republican. They really live in a bubble of ignorance.

[Raster]

77. I DO NOT GET IT... It's got to be like some fatal political attraction...

...tRump* is an idiot so out of place and step, it really is almost comical. Almost.

[nolabels]

81. Many of them have very short foresight and the others don't understand......

how things will affect them, don't think things will affect them or just don't care. Mostly it's going take while before a certain amount of them wise up to their whereabouts in the frying pan. Like they always say the shit has to get bad before things can get better. It's kind of like you need to be prepared with a siege mentality because it's going to take awhile before the cracks appear

[awesomerwb]

80. Very scary and dangerous stuff

This will only embolden repubs in congress/senate pass all legislation they want.

[kentuck]

84. That is the scariest thing I have read today.

They got a shit sandwich for lunch and they love it !!

[Crunchy Frog]

85. They're basically a cult at this point.

[Dem2]

90. Makes it difficult not to want to dehumanize a person who can't see his vileness

This is how civil wars begin. I don't even need to know this - it's not good for me.

[mnhtnbb]

91. It tells you that Republicans are a$$holes who hate the US and hate democracy.

[Tikki]

93. Start drafting their precious little spuds to fight trump's war....

and watch them turn.

True some will escape the draft...but not all.


Tikki

[Rex]

95. You cannot fix stupid.