“By every metric in our poll, Trump is seen as having a negative effect on the country,” pollster Stuart Elway said. “A lot of people are feeling this personally, more so than last time.”
The Cascade PBS/Elway poll surveyed 403 registered voters across the state between March 27 and 31 using a mix of landline, cell phone and online interviews. It has a 95% confidence level, meaning that if the survey were conducted 100 times, the results would be within five percentage points of these results at least 95 times.
About 60% of respondents said Trump was bringing the wrong kind of change to the country, an increase from 2017 when 46% of voters gave that response to the same question shortly after Trump took office for the first time. In this year’s poll, 63% also said they disapproved of his leadership style. In April 2017, 56% did.
“I never in my entire life could ever imagine the highest office in our country working and acting the way that Donald Trump is,” said Randy McGlenn, 49, of Spokane. “It has completely eviscerated any type of expectation.”
But not everyone disapproves of him. About 31% of poll respondents said Trump was bringing the right kind of change to the country – a slight reduction from 34% in 2017. Thirty-five percent approve of Trump’s leadership style, compared to 40% in 2017.
The poll responses reflect Washington’s election results from November, when Trump gained just 39% of the vote, and mostly fell along expected party lines.
About 94% of Democrats said Trump was bringing the wrong kind of change to the country, and about 95% disapproved of his leadership style. About 85% of Republicans surveyed said Trump was bringing the right change, while 89% approved of his leadership style. Among Independents, about 56% said Trump was bringing the wrong change, and 61% disapproved of his leadership style.
About 45% of respondents said the Trump administration was negatively affecting them; 23% said it was positively affecting them. Another 28% said the administration was having no impact on their lives.
Specific impacts on respondents’ lives varied from person to person. Respondents who disapproved of Trump reported feeling stressed or hopeless and were concerned about increased costs of living and long-term effects on the economy and job security. Respondents who approved of Trump’s policies regarding deportation and cutting government programs and positions said they felt safer and more hopeful about the future.
Katie Kirtley, 54, of Newport, said she approved of Trump’s policies to reduce government spending. She also said she hoped his tariff policies would help the country in the long run even if they are difficult at first.
“I’m just grateful, super-grateful,” she said.
The poll also showed something else: Democrats are ready to fight back. About 76% of Democratic respondents said the party needs to be more vigorously attacking Trump’s agenda. Another 19% said the party needs to wait for the right opportunity to be more effective. No Democrats said the party should look for ways to cooperate.
“Democrats are pretty feisty. They’re not looking to wait around anymore,” Elway said. “But that doesn’t mean they agree on what they should do.”
About 40% of Independent respondents said the Democratic party should more vigorously fight back, while 29% said the party should look for ways to cooperate.
McGlenn said Democrats and Independents need to work together to build a coalition and hold the Trump administration accountable.
“We really need to put pressure on and really question the authority of the administration and the legality of their actions,” he said.
Republicans, meanwhile, think Democrats should work with Trump. Sixty-eight percent said the party should cooperate with the administration, and no Republican respondents said the party should more vigorously fight back.
Kirtley criticized Democrats for pushing back throughout Trump’s first term. This time, she said, “he’s ready for their opposition.”
Along with personal impacts, many respondents expressed worries about Trump’s effect on the country. About 60% said the United States’ stature in the world is worse since Trump took office again. About 57% said that democracy in America is worse, and about 66% said political division is worse. About 58% said the economy is worse, and 58% said fairness and opportunity are worse.
Most people said their personal financial situation was worse or unchanged. Only 15% said their finances have been positively affected since Trump took office.
As respondents look toward the next four years, many across the political spectrum have concerns.
About 36% said they were worried about domestic issues like the economy, civil rights and border security. Another 22% were worried about the future of the country, citing “fascism,” “a constitutional crisis,” election security and a civil war. About 15% were worried about international affairs, and 10% were concerned about the future of government programs like Social Security and Medicaid. About 8% were worried about Democrats undermining Trump, and 4% were concerned about people and the courts going against Trump.
“I’m just looking forward to the midterm,” McGlenn said. “And even then, I’m nervous about what could happen between now and then.”
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