Tuesday's Election Was Proof That The Polls Have Been Right - Trump Is Very Unpopular
Pretty much since Day 1 of his presidency , Trump has been underwater in polling of his popularity and job approval. In fact, he has the worst ratings along those lines in history. Throughout this though, his fans have responded that polls are meaningless, citing the fact that he "won" the election last year as proof both of his popularity and that polls are wrong.
Last night's gubernatorial election in Virginia has put the lie to that. Simply put, the Democrat candidate Northam won in areas that had voted for trump last November, AND many people said that rejection of Trump was a factor in their vote.
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WASHINGTON — One year after Donald Trump’s shocking election upset, many Americans who live in the key counties that propelled him to victory remain unconvinced that the country is better off now that he’s in the White House, a new poll from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal shows.
The poll, which sampled residents of 438 counties that either flipped from voting Democratic in the 2012 presidential election to Republican in 2016, or saw a significant surge for Trump last year, found that a third — 32 percent — believe the country is better off now than it was before Trump became president.
But a plurality — 41 percent — say the country is worse off now than it was when Trump became commander in chief. An additional 26 percent say the state of the nation has remained about the same.
And overall, slightly more than half — 53 percent — say they do not think Trump has a clear agenda on how to address the major issues facing the country.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/nbc-wsj-poll-trump-counties-more-say-u-s-worse-n818056
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In itself, the Virginia election doesnt change politics much, the governor of Virginia is normally not a national figure, but this result proves Trump's unpopularity. Exit polling yesterday demonstrated that clearly. In fact, the Republican lost last night because of the unpopularity of Donald Trump. THAT is a national story.
No.....It's just the status quo for that state.
"Exit polling yesterday demonstrated that clearly"
No again !
A Dem winning a Dem seat......isn't NEWS !
I will make this plain for you.
Northam did much better than Clinton in certain areas of the state. In those areas half the people said that the performance of Trump as president was a factor in their vote last night. Of those in that half, twice as many said Trump was a negative factor as said he was a positive factor.
What this means is that many people who voted for Trump last year voted for the Democrat last night, because of Trump's performance as president.
The polls have been pointing this out all year, and people like you have refused to accept the polls. Now there is proof.
oooooo.....wow !
A Dem did a BIT better than another Dem., in a State Dems win.
GREAT POINT ?
PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR TRUMP VOTED AGAINST TRUMP'S CHOICE LAST NIGHT, AND SAID TRUMP WAS A REASON FOR IT !
Do you have to be run over by a truck in order to "get it" ?
It's no use.
The Media reported that ?
Did they pick and choose who they spoke to, or did they speak with EVERYONE that voted.
A Dem won a Dem seat. Big Deal !
Links to articles/opinions are usually preferred if you copy and paste their content......unless one does not want to expose "sources". Maybe a disclaimer or "according to sources close to the board of elections". Just consider this a public service message.
Half of voters said the PRESIDENT was a factor in their vote for governor of their state. That is not normally the case.
And two thirds of those said he was a negative factor.
While it would be hard to prove dislike of Trump caused Gillespie to lose, it is easy to prove that dislike of Trump caused Gillespie lose by 9 points.
Here's your sources, you know you could have looked this up yourself.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/11/08/the-shifts-in-virginia-voting-that-handed-trump-an-embarrassing-defeat/?utm_term=.50b0b93ebcec
Is that enough or, do you want more proof it was about Trump.
TO THE RESCUE. Excuse me but, it was a public service due to the fact that JR posted something copied FROM somewhere and didn't cite the source. But good on ya for being a first responder and the snark wasn't/isn't/never will be necessary.
Have a great day and keep up the good work.......
Not snark, just fact, you can look this stuff up yourself and, not have to rely on a "Librul" to do your research. THAT is snark.
I never post something copied and pasted from a source without citing the source.
I will slightly reformat the OP though if that is what was vexing you.
Sorry but it was/is snark. The comment was NOT addressed to you but you felt the need to jump in anyway. It wasn't about what was said as much as where it came from. Now please. stop.............
It was abut the questions they asked.
Of course that is what all the polls are going to say, the questions ask put the spin on it for them....
One of these days you guys will figure this out.....
"proves Trump's unpopularity"
How so John? Trump wasn't on the ballot - Trump wasn't up for election - Trump didn't campaign - Trump didn't spend campaign money in this race - AND - nobody voted for a Presidential candidate Tuesday.
Man, your hate is reaching new limits of the vacuum you live in.
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Then why does he take these movements sp personally? Let's face facts, if the result was all in the republicon side he would be claiming an unprecedented victory attributed to his bigly awesomeness.
LOL, good one.
Or attributed to his awesome biglyness.
Virginia has had 5 Republican governors out of the last 10, so it's split even between the two parties. Not sure how you come up with "libtardistan" when speaking of Virginia.
So then I guess you will say that obama must have been unpopular during his term in office. During his term the democrats lost control if the House of Representatives, lost Control of the US Senate, lost numerous governorships and state house. In fact over 1000 democrat held elective seats changed to Republican hands during his term.
Yup! Using your thought obama must have been real unpopular!
Yep, he was so unliked he won two terms by landslides.
No sane person would deny that the T-bagger wave was a racist reactionary response to a black guy being in office.
It's also the main reason the racist King of the Birthers was elected.
Democrats have been starved of positive political news for a year now, ever since they were left in a deep, depressive state over the media induced falsehood that said "Hillary in a landslide", all the way to Election Day, 2016.
Now, you've been thrown a couple of crumbs, and you believe that you sit before a feast.
Delusion layered upon more delusion...
Jonathan, the result last night was clear. People told exit pollsters that they used Trump as a factor in voting against Gillespie.
Far more people said that Trump's influence on their vote was negative toward the Republican than said it was positive toward the Republican.
Yes, very clear, for a state that Hillary carried a year ago.
People can say whatever they want here on NewsTalkers, and they can say whatever they want in exit polls.
The state of Virginia is not a referendum on sea change, especially in the GOP. It's wishful thinking.
I will stipulate for you a year from now, either way.
I have to agree here, the 2018 election will tell the tale. I don't think Democrats will take control of the House AND, the Senate but, I think they have a good chance to take one of them.
The "pundits" predicted a very close election last night. It turned out it wasn't close at all.
The pundits did not account for the anti-Trump sentiment, particularly among those who had voted for him last November.
Alrighty then.
Congratulations.
True, pundits can be very wrong.
Like last November. The pundits were dead wrong and the butt-hurt that ensued for some is still a festering boil a year later. Ready to burst "bigly" at any moment.
Try reading these.
???
Like has been pointed out by others here several times already. This Governors race didn't go much differently than the POTUS race in 2016. They gained about three percentage points. Hardly a mandate but okay sure, one can agree that was largely due to the sitting POTUS. Such is how politics works.
That said, that wasn't the point of my post you quoted but rather it was agreeing on how wrong pundits can be.
On both sides.
My thoughts exactly, I can't wait to see the reaction when the "poll ass hats" lose their mind after the Liberal media completely fudges the numbers again in another attempt to brainwash what they believe are a truly stupid group of people into thinking they are on the winning side again.
every landslide begins with a couple of tumbles. So much for crumbs.
There's always the need for optimism, as it's an integral component of the body politic. To think that this is anything but crumbs right now is to repeat the bloated confidence that existed prior to last years election.
People who voted for Trump in the presidential election voted against his choice in the governor's election, because of him.
It could turn out to be a little thing down the road, or it could be the harbinger of a big thing.
It is not what was expected in Virginia.
Virginia has been a reliably conservative state since the civil war but over the past few decades things have been changing for the better as the northern part of the state becomes increasingly liberal. In fact it looks like the House of Delegates might even switch to Dem control due to several contested races.
Virginia has gone democrat in the past 3 presidential elections. It is the only southern state which Trump failed to win. The reason is that the northern area of Virginia bordering DC has been one of the fastest growing areas of the country in the past few years. The new residents are mostly professional people who work in the DC area, many for the government, which has not only been insulated from the recession but has actually flourished during the past few years.
Young professionals sucking off the government = democrat votes
It does show that educated professionals were unlikely to find any appeal in Gillespie's racist campaign or his affiliation with Trump.
Obviously, you don't share Michelle Obama's philosophy of "When they go low, we go high" and based upon his campaign, neither was Northam.
Don't blame the Obamas for the GOP's decision to pander to racist morons.
Maybe you should try and understand what I said. It's not difficult
Put the lie to WHAT?
Democrats holding a democrat seat by a 5 to 4 margin? doesn't put the lie to anything
Same thing in New Jersey, 5 to 4 margin, besides, the issue was Christie and his corruption, he wasn't too popular there and took down the republicans with him. A good lesson in party really doesn't matter anymore when the people feel you don't have their interests at heart, too bad too sad....
New York? gimme a break, A democrat winning by 6 to 4 in a Democrat enclave? not very good either.
And an off year election to boot.
I can't fault John, no real election experience, except for parroting media polls and pundits, and heavily rose colored glasses.
This was the expected outcome.....
Nothing to write home about....
How do you explain the VA house of delegates. Dems have picked up 14 seats with 5 more to be decided. If dems pick up 3 of the remaining 5 seats they will have a majority in the house. First time in 20 years.
Blowhards gotta blowhard.
That is the real good news for democrats. That was the unexpected.
Congratulations to democrats - you finally won some elections - the first time since Donald Trump was elected (one year ago)
I've been either part of winning national elections or predicting the winner for the last 40 some odd years.....
the last three election I predicted at the point of the end of the Iowa caucuses, right on this site, I also correctly predicted the outcome of the last two midterms right on this site......
And you DAMNED well KNOW it John.......
And that is all you got?
But that is typical of your position isn't it.....
Enjoy your minor victory, blow it up hyperbolically all you want, the real test comes next year, doesn't it....
What underscored how lopsided a race the New Jersey Governors election was - was when NBC gave the check mark to Phil Murphy before a single vote was counted
For those who actually watch the trends and are interested in real facts rather than talking points, Virginia was a good win for the democrats.
The problem is that you have the same democrats running the DNC albeit with new front men. Last night after the race was called I listened to a brief interview with new DNC head Mr. Perez and could only roll my eyes and shake my head. The DNC has learned NOTHING. His rhetoric, if continued, will only bolster Trump supporters and ensure he get's his second term.
I would like for the Democrats to stop talking about Donald Trump and start talking about where we have common ground and where policy differences can impact every day Americans.
To have common ground there's got to be some evidence that the other side is rational and honest. Republicans show no sign of that being the case at this point. Maybe this election result will concentrate their thoughts. And there's no way to go forward with Trumpism as the way of things. That has to go away. Yesterday was not a rejection of Trump, the person, but of everything he stands for.
If you recall, in all those loses since Trump was elected, democrats have said they weren't supposed to win them anyway but close finishes meant they would sweep the GOP out in 2018! It was no surprise to see all these seeds today talking about democratic wins.
Let them enjoy the moment, it's been a long time for them
They can talk all they want. Currently in the Senate election, dems have 23 seats up for election along with 2 independents who caucus with them. Republicans now have 8 seats up for election because of Tennessee Senator Bob Corker 's and Arizona Senator Flake's retirements.
Think about that - the dems need to hold 23 seats before they can make any gains. On the other hand the Republicans can potentially gain a super majority and a lot can happen between now and then. I'm looking forward to that one.
I agree about Perez although he was understandably ebullient that Northam was elected.
And there's no doubt that this election was largely a reaction against everything Trump represents, including Gillespie's neoconfederate and pro-Jim Crow support for the symbols of white supremacy. And that's where I think you're wrong, PJ, because it's very effective to run against an unpopular president (or at least one unpopular with the demographic you seek to win). Where you're right is that you also need to have a positive platform to stay in office and that's what the T-baggers utterly lack - any kind of effective positive platform. It's why the GOP lost seats in both houses of Congress last year despite Trump winning, and why they've been unable to pass any significant legislation.
I also suspect that keeping Obamacare had a lot to do with the election, especially in Virginia. It's funny how many Trump voters were so clueless that they didn't realize that a vote for him could cause them to lose their healthcare.
And there's no doubt that this election was largely a reaction against everything Trump represents, including Gillespie's neoconfederate and pro-Jim Crow support for the symbols of white supremacy. And that's where I think you're wrong, PJ, because it's very effective to run against an unpopular president (or at least one unpopular with the demographic you seek to win).
Let me say this. I think Northam was SMART to flip flop on the sanctuary cities issue. He figured out what he needed to say in order to WIN. That's the game in town. It's always been the game but the Democrats have been too slow to figure it out. They pretend they're purest on things and that's partly why they got suckered into adopting all those PC issues. Perhaps other Democrats will learn that it's not what you say but what you do so say whatever the frock you need to in order to get the win.
Did some voters come out because they are anti Trump - YES but some came out for other reasons such as the ACA as you noted.
You don't have to remind voters who hate Trump why they hate him. He does that everyday. They need to focus on policy issues that are going to affect voters and how the Dem and Rep policies differ. And they need to throw a couple old white men in front of the camera also.
Actually you do both at the same time - you state your policy position and contrast that to your Trump-supporting opponent.
.
That hasn't been a problem since cameras or elections were first invented. Of course I don't watch political ads and don't live in Virginia but I doubt there was a dearth of white folks.
That would make too much sense for the democrat establishment Pj.
It's very revealing that Gillespie and the GOP thought that running on a platform of racism would appeal to Republican voters in a state which recently had a horrific terrorist attack by a racist right-wing extremist. While they were probably right about that they forgot that it would turn off everyone else.
This is some serious stupidity. A Democrat wins a position that was already held by a Democrat, Trump wasn't on any ballot, but yet he was "defeated"? Really, how hard to you have to be hit in the head to think this is a victory? .
I guess they will try to take ANYTHING (regardless of how retarded) as a victory.