The partisan political divide over President Trump is the highest “ever,” and just declaring as a Democrat or Republican identifies Americans as pro- or anti-Trump 81 percent of the time, according to a new analysis of the nation.
“Partisanship has always been strongly related to presidential approval, but it has become even more so over time, and the divisions in job approval ratings by party have been larger than ever during the Trump administration,” said the latest Gallup review of the president’s approval rating.
“Extreme party polarization explains the stability in Trump’s job approval ratings to date,” it added.
In reviewing “subgroups” among the electorate, the polling outfit found little change in support for or opposition to Trump.
But it did identify one group the president might be able to seize on and expand, conservative Democrats, though not by much. “Democratic subgroups tend to exhibit even less variation in their opinions of Trump than Republican subgroups do, with nearly every Democratic subgroup registering approval in the single digits. Ideology is a factor in the sole Democratic exception, with 11 percent of conservative Democrats approving of Trump,” said Gallup.
It also said that while Trump is the pick among a majority of whites, he is especially popular among non-college educated whites.
Gallup used three models to test partisanship, and the major finding was that simple party identification matched a person’s approval or disapproval of Trump.
In other words, if you are a Democrat you disapprove of Trump, a Republican you approve of him. “Party alone can correctly predict Trump approval 81 percent of the time,” said Gallup.
The analysis concluded, “These patterns suggest that the GOP is now defined by President Trump.”
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