Reuters/Ipsos Data: Core Political (12/7/2016)

Public Sector

7 December 2016

Washington, DC- The latest Reuters/Ipsos Core Political was released today.

Trends

Overall, 58% of Americans believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction, with Republicans' (64%), and Independents' (67%) having about the same amount of pessimism. Democrats' are slightly more optimistic, as only 53% said the country is headed in the wrong direction.
The economy remains at the top of the list of the most serious problem facing the United States, at 19%.

Approval

President Obama's approval rating has remained at 53% approve, with disapproval at 42%.
Both Mike Pence and Donald Trump are enjoying higher favorability since the election with over half (59%) favorable towards the Vice President-Elect and more than half (52%) currently favorable towards President-Elect Donald Trump.

Trump Administration

As President-Elect Trump announces potential appointments for the new administration, we will be gauging the American public's opinion of those candidates. This week:

Mitt Romney is the best known with 98% of Americans aware of him and 55% of these holding favorable opinions towards him.
Benjamin Carson is the second best well known (89%) and the most highly regarded with 60% of these viewing him as favorable.
John Bolton (56% aware, 49% favorable) and Bob Corker (52% aware, 47% favorable) are both only moderately well-known, with fairly low favorability ratings (all below the 50% mark).
Nikki Haley's ratings follow a different pattern, with similar proportions (59%) of Americans aware of her but a slightly more positive assessment when it comes to favorability (54% favorable, 46% unfavorable).

President-Elect Trump's personnel moves to date have started to boost Americans' confidence. Last week, only 33% of Americans said that Donald Trump's choices for his cabinet make them feel more confident about the new administration. This week, that number had increased to 40%, with only 34% saying that his choices make them feel less confident.

Topline results are available for download on the right side of the page.

These are findings from an Ipsos poll conducted for Thomson Reuters December 2-6, 2016. For the survey, a sample of 1,716 Americans, including 732 Democrats, 633 Republicans, 193 Independents 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 2.7 percentage points for all adults, 4.1 percentage points for Democrats, 4.4 percentage points for Republicans, 8.0 percentage points for Independents. 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:

Clifford Young President, US Public Affairs Ipsos Public Affairs 202.420.2016 [email protected]

Julia Clark Senior Vice President Ipsos Public Affairs 312.526.4919 [email protected]

Chris Jackson Vice President Ipsos Public Affairs 202.420.2011 [email protected]

About Ipsos Public Affairs

Ipsos Public Affairs is a non-partisan, objective, survey-based research practice made up of seasoned professionals. We conduct strategic research initiatives for a diverse number of American and international organizations, based not only on public opinion research, but elite stakeholder, corporate, and media opinion research.

Ipsos has media partnerships with the most prestigious news organizations around the world. In Canada, the U.S., UK, and internationally, Ipsos Public Affairs is the media polling supplier to Reuters News, the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. Ipsos Public Affairs is a member of the Ipsos Group, a leading global survey-based market research company. We provide boutique-style customer service and work closely with our clients, while also undertaking global research.

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About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry.

With offices in 87 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across five research specializations: brand, advertising and media, customer loyalty, marketing, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of e1,785.3 million ($1,981 million) in 2015.