The Musings of the Big Red Car

The Surprising State of American Satisfaction

 

I am a huge skeptic of polls as most of the polls are poorly constructed. The poorly designed samples doom the accuracy of the polls. The exception to that rule is Rassmussen and Gallup.

Of the two, I place more confidence in Rasmussen as it relates to political polls and in Gallup as it relates to “state of the state” type polls.

I was flabbergasted to read a recent late January 2020 poll from Gallup. Here is the data they report. It is quite surprising to me how favorably the country views the presidency of Donald J Trump. Nobody would ever have thought this based on the media. I am a policy guy, using the effectiveness of policy as my personal yardstick to evaluate satisfaction.

Take a look at this info which is take directly from the poll. See if you are as surprised as me?

Changes in Americans’ Satisfaction With Issues

Since Start of Trump Presidency

 

Jan 2017 Jan 2020 Change
Increased satisfaction
The state of the nation’s economy 46% 68% +22%
The nation’s security from terrorism 50 68 +18
The nation’s military strength and preparedness 66 81 +15
The state of race relations 22 36 +14
The nation’s policies to reduce or control crime 38 47 +9
The position of blacks and other racial minorities in the nation 37 46 +9
The way income and wealth are distributed in the U.S. 35 43 +8
The opportunity for a person in this nation to get ahead by working hard 66 72 +6
Satisfaction steady
The overall quality of life 80 84 +4
The influence of organized religion 56 59 +3
The nation’s energy policies 41 44 +3
Our system of government and how well it works 40 43 +3
Government regulation of businesses and industries 38 41 +3
The size and influence of major corporations 39 41 +2
The moral and ethical climate 31 32 +1
The quality of medical care in the nation 52 52 0
The nation’s laws or policies on guns 42 42 0
The nation’s efforts to deal with poverty and homelessness 23 22 -1
The role the U.S. plays in world affairs 45 43 -2
The size and power of the federal government 40 38 -2
The amount Americans pay in federal taxes 39 37 -2
The availability of affordable healthcare 39 37 -2
The quality of public education in the nation 37 35 -2
The acceptance of gays and lesbians in the nation 59 56 -3
The Social Security and Medicare systems 47 43 -4
Decreased satisfaction
The quality of the environment in the nation 52 46 -6
The level of immigration into the country today 41 35 -6
The nation’s policies regarding the abortion issue 39 32 -7

What do you think? Does it surprise you how high the general level of satisfaction is during the three years of the Trump admin? I am truly flabbergasted.