US voters prefer Democrats to Republicans on economy for first time in a decade, poll finds

WASHINGTON – Americans picked Democrats over Republicans as better stewards of the economy for the first time in nearly a decade in a Reuters/Ipsos poll, which also found their approval of President Donald Trump’s performance falling to 35 per cent.

The finding, in a poll conducted from July 29 to Aug 3, showed how Trump’s handling of the economy, including rising energy prices resulting from the Iran war, could weigh on his party’s chances in the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the next two years.

Trump’s presidential approval rating fell to 35 per cent from 37 per cent in a previous Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in July, with the share of Americans who give his presidency a thumbs up within just 1 percentage point of the lowest level of his term.

About 37 per cent of registered voters responding to the poll said the Democratic Party has a better approach to the US economy, compared with 36 per cent who picked the Republican Party. Another 27 per cent said they were not sure, or that a different party would do a better job.

Republicans had held the advantage on the economy throughout most of Trump’s first term in office from 2017 to 2021, throughout all of Democratic president Joe Biden’s subsequent four years in power, and into Trump’s second term.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded in May 2017 gave Democrats an edge, though the question was asked differently, with no option for respondents to say they were not sure or that a different party would do better.

Deteriorating Republican edge

The Republican edge on the economy has steadily deteriorated during Trump’s current term, narrowing to zero in recent months as US household finances suffered from soaring petrol prices following the US-Israeli attack on Iran in February and the war that has been simmering ever since.

Trump has said he ordered the strikes and ensuing conflict to dismantle Iran’s nuclear programme, curb its ability to attack regional rivals and create conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers. But petrol prices have surged more than 25 per cent since the war started, with Americans on average paying more than a dollar extra per gallon at the pump.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted online and nationwide, found that 42 per cent of registered voters would vote for a Democrat in congressional elections and 37 per cent would vote Republican if the contest were held now.

Independents in the poll picked Democrats over Republicans by 12 percentage points. Republicans will be defending narrow congressional majorities in the Nov 3 elections.

While the poll presents a picture of the national political mood, the actual elections for the US Congress are more complex. Of the 435 House of Representatives seats, only about three dozen are expected to be competitive, while about eight Senate seats are expected to be competitive.

Trump has repeatedly dismissed widespread polling showing that Americans are unhappy with his leadership.

On the morning of Aug 3, ahead of the release of the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, he posted on Truth Social: “My real polling numbers, not those made up by the fake news media, are the best they have ever been.”

The Reuters/Ipsos poll gathered responses from 4,505 US adults and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points. REUTERS