TEHRAN — American voters are turning decisively against President Donald Trump on the eve of the November 3 midterm elections, pushing his approval rating down to 31 percent in a nationwide Reuters/Ipsos survey published on Tuesday, October 20. The figure marks the lowest point across both of his presidential terms.
An important factor driving the decline is mounting public anger over the joint U.S.-Israeli war launched against Iran in February.
The military campaign triggered a sharp surge in global oil prices, hitting working-class households across the United States.
Roughly 68 percent of respondents now disapprove of Trump’s economic management, a figure that includes 37 percent of self-identified Republicans.
The backlash has handed Democrats a 47 to 35 percent advantage on the generic congressional ballot. That 12-point lead represents the widest gap measured during the current election cycle. Two weeks prior, the same poll showed a 7-point Democratic margin.
A shift of this scale threatens the Republican majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, a result that would stall Trump’s domestic agenda for his remaining two years in office.
Women are driving the shift. Half of female registered voters surveyed said they intend to vote Democratic, compared to 32 percent favoring Republicans. Men also backed Democrats, though by a smaller margin.
When asked which party would better manage the national economy, voters chose Democrats over Republicans by 40 percent to 33 percent.
The domestic fallout from the military aggression against Iran has forced Republican campaigns into retreat.
While Trump urges rally crowds to pretend he is on the ballot, ad-tracking data from AdImpact tells a different story.
Between September 9 and October 17, Republican House and Senate campaigns spent less than $1 of every $100 on television and streaming ads that mentioned Trump’s name. During the primary season, that figure stood at $55 of every $100.
Democratic campaigns are taking the opposite approach, devoting $20 of every $100 in advertising spending to commercials that prominently feature Trump.
These spots directly link Republican candidates to the war on Iran, trade tariffs, and rising living costs.
In battleground states such as Georgia, Michigan, and Maine, Democratic ads highlight the direct connection between Washington’s military aggression in West Asia and higher prices at local gas stations.
Republican pollster Whit Ayres noted the obvious difficulty facing his party, observing that a president stuck in the 30s offers little help to candidates who need 50 percent of the vote to win.
The online survey gathered responses from 1,679 U.S. adults, including 1,279 registered voters, with a margin of error of 2 percentage points for all respondents and 3 points for registered voters.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: tehrantimes.com
