The phrase “Trump Country” has become synonymous with rust belt towns and rural communities left behind by the global economy. But now, these places have hope – and that hope is strongest in young people.
Echelon Insights has conducted in-depth surveys in “Trump country,” which they define in two ways: “’Trump Flip’ counties, having voted in the past for Barack Obama but flipping to become counties that Donald Trump won,” and “’Trump Surge’ counties, ones where Trump improved 20 points or more on the margin Mitt Romney had during the 2012 election.”
This month’s survey asked 1,000 registered voters in “Trump Country” whether or not they think the country is headed in the right direction. An impressive 58.6 percent of voters aged 18-to-29 said that the country is headed in the right direction. Only 40.1 percent of that age group said that we are on the wrong track. Millennial men were significantly more likely than millennial women to say we’re on the right track (55.2 percent to 39.0 percent.)
Optimism studies are nothing new; the outcome of this one, however, breaks with the typical results. The Huffington Post explains, “The usual trend line has the youngest Americans being the most pessimistic and those who say “right direction” increasing with age.”
That usual trend is shattered in this study: For once, young voters are the most hopeful. Voters between the ages of 40 and 49 are least optimistic, with only 41.2 percent of respondents saying that the country is on the right track.
What about the rest of America – all generations and political affiliations, in all counties?
On the whole, we’re not enthused about how Trump has handled the job so far. His approval rating is at 36 percent — the lowest level since he took the Oath of Office. Trump scores at least ten points behind his predecessors Obama and Bush on metrics such as “protecting the nation’s environment” and “improving the nation’s energy policies.”
Yet, there’s one area where Americans think Trump is making strides – and to paraphrase James Carville, “It’s the economy, stupid.”
Gallup tracks “economic confidence” – a measure of how Americans perceive our economy’s future. Surveys found that economic confidence spiked to +16 in early March – the highest level since the election. Since then, economic confidence has fallen to the lowest level since election day. That lowest level was still a +5, meaning that even then, more Americans felt positively about the economy than felt negatively about it.
Most Americans think he will make the economy stronger – so why such a low approval rating? A strong economy does not a good presidency make. Trump not only has to live up to Americans’ expectations that he will boost the economy; he must wise up on domestic and foreign policy, too.
