Reuters/Ipsos Core Political Survey: Party Strength Matchups (09/25/2019)

Washington, D.C., September 25, 2019 - The latest Reuters/Ipsos Core Political survey interviews took place between September 24-25, 2019 following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's announcement to launch  a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump's conduct following a whistle-blower complaint concerning President Trump, Joe Biden and the president of Ukraine. President Trump's overall approval rating is unchanged, with 40% of Americans reporting they approve of the job Trump is doing as president. Democratic registered voters remain critical of Trump's job performance - just 11% approve, while 86% disapprove. Republican registered voters remain extremely supportive of the president, with 84% approving of Trump's performance.

Just 27% of Americans report they believe the country is headed in the right direction, a 3-point drop from last week. Registered voters experienced a similar drop, with 30% reporting this week they believe the country is headed on the right path, compared to 33% last week. Among Republican registered voters, optimism about the direction of the country dropped 4 points from last week (61%) to 57%. One in 10 Democratic registered voters (12%) reports the country is headed in the right direction - this is statistically unchanged from last week (11%). 

Looking at the major issues facing the country, Americans believe that healthcare (17%), immigration (14%), the environment (12%) and the economy (11%) are the top issues facing the country this week. Following the U.N. Climate Summit, Democratic registered voters perceive the environment (20%) to be as important of a problem as healthcare (21%). This is a significant shift from earlier this year, when just 10% of Democrats reported the environment to be the most important issue (Core Political dated March 20, 2019). Republicans perceive immigration as the biggest issue (28%) followed by healthcare (13%) and morality (12%). 

We also inquired as to which political party Americans believe has a better approach to specific policy issues. Americans prefer the Democratic Party’s approach to domestic and civil liberties issues, while more Americans prefer the Republican Party’s policies concerning the Middle East and jobs. Americans are more likely to believe the Republican approach is better for the following issues:

• Jobs and employment (35% prefer Republicans, 27% prefer Democrats);
• Iran (28% prefer Republicans, 21% prefer Democrats); and
• Israel (30% prefer Republicans, 19% prefer Democrats).

While the Democratic Party is seen has having better policies than the Republican Party on these domestic issues by more Americans:

• The environment (38% prefer Democrats, 19% prefer Republicans);
• Gay marriage (36% prefer Democrats, 16% prefer Republicans);
• Women’s rights (39% prefer Democrats, 19% prefer Republicans); and
• Healthcare (37% prefer Democrats, 24% prefer Republicans).

Americans are split on which party has a better policy for these issues:

• Federal deficit (24% prefer Democrats, and 23% prefer Republicans);
• Immigration (33% prefer Democrats, and 32% prefer Republicans); and
• Foreign policy (29% prefer Democrats, and 30% prefer Republicans).

About this Study

These are findings from an Ipsos poll conducted for Thomson Reuters between September 24-25, 2019. For the survey, a sample of 1,117 Americans, including 942 registered voters, 423 Democrat registered voters, 373 Republican registered voters, and 105 Independent registered voters ages 18+ were interviewed online. The precision of the Reuters/Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points for all adults, 3.6 percentage points for registered voters, 5.4 percentage points for Democratic registered voters, 5.8 percentage points for Republican registered voters, and 10.9 percentage points for Independent registered voters. For more information about credibility intervals, please see the appendix.

The data were weighted to the U.S. current population data by gender, age, education, and ethnicity. Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online polls. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. Figures marked by an asterisk (*) indicate a percentage value of greater than zero but less than one half of one per cent. Where figures do not sum to 100, this is due to the effects of rounding. To see more information on this and other Reuters/Ipsos polls, please visit http://polling.reuters.com/.

For more information on this news release please contact:

Chris Jackson
Vice President, U.S.
Ipsos Public Affairs
202.420.2011
[email protected]

About Ipsos

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