Poll: Democratic voters driven by Trump opposition more than party platform

A new poll shows that Democratic voters are more driven to cast their ballots in the November midterms elections out of their opposition to President Trump more so than the party’s platform.

The CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday found that 54 percent of Democratic voters said they will vote for their Democratic candidate to Congress to stop Trump and Republican lawmakers from passing their policies, and 46 percent said they will vote Democratic to help the party pass its policies.

More Republican voters said they intend to vote to help Trump and Republicans pass their policies at 57 percent, while 43 percent said they will vote to stop Democrats from having their policies passed.

Forty-five percent of voters in general told pollsters that they will vote to oppose Trump, with 28 percent saying they will vote in support of him and 27 percent saying their vote isn’t about Trump.

Other questions to registered voters were split. As to whether Democratic policies will improve voters’ finances if they take control of Congress, 36 percent each said they would be financially better off or worse off. The question of whether Democratic policies will help protect or threaten “your culture and way of life” received 37 percent for either possibility.

The poll also showed that Trump’s job approval is at 39 percent, with 61 percent who disapprove.

Voters noted that Trump’s endorsement of GOP candidates make them less likely to support a candidate, at 48 percent compared to 21 percent who told pollsters that it would make them more likely to vote in November.

The election handicapper Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ), a partner of The Hill, last week shifted the GOP’s odds of winning the Senate to 51 percent, down from the 60 percent chance they had two months ago.

DDHQ’s estimate for the House shows Democrats holding a 68 percent chance of reclaiming the House, with a 32 percent probability for Republicans.

James Blair, a top adviser to Trump, told NBC News’s podcast that the president is “ cautiously optimistic ” that Republicans will maintain their control of Congress, with Trump himself making another pitch for Republicans at the party’s midterm convention in Dallas last week.

Recent polling shows voters have soured on Trump’s job performance, specifically his handling of the economy and the deeply unpopular Iran war.

The CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted Sept. 8-11 and included 2,460 respondents. The margin of error is 2.3 percentage points.