“It’s the economy, stupid.” Do you think that Donald Trump never heard that before? Or, maybe it doesn’t matter at all that he has heard it, because in his dream world the economy is booming like never before. Just ask him and he’ll tell you about $17 Trillion in investments, about how tariffs are the greatest tool since sliced bread and how as a reward for everything going so bloody well, his polls are the highest they’ve ever been. No.They.Are.Not. And even Trump’s own favorite pollster has grim tidings for the midterms.
A survey by McLaughlin and Associates warns that Republicans are hemorrhaging support from all-important independent voters—a damning sign for the party as it tries to maintain House and Senate majorities through the midterms.
In a column for Newsmax explaining the findings, John McLaughlin, a pollster for the 2024 Trump campaign, and his brother, Jim, wrote that there is an “increasingly challenging landscape for Republicans heading into the 2026 midterm elections.”
Trump used to rave about this poll and how great it was. It never was that great. It was a C+ rated poll, not an A+ rated like Ann Selzer had in Iowa. But who knows? The McLaughlins may be the next coffee boys when Trump gets wind of this.
Specifically, the right-wing pollsters wrote that Democrats are leading the generic congressional ballot 45 percent to 44 percent, marking the first time they have led in their surveys since the 2024 election. That means every pollster tracked by The New York Times now predicts that Democrats will regain control of Congress in next year’s midterms.
The McLaughlin poll, which surveyed 1,000 Americans this month, found that Democrats now hold advantages among key swing demographics they lost ground with in 2024. The poll comes on the heels of other troubling polls for Republicans.
Democrats now lead Republicans among independents (42 percent to 26 percent), Hispanics (48 percent to 36 percent), suburban voters (46 percent to 43 percent), and women (50 percent to 38 percent).
The state of the economy may be driving voters toward Democrats. The McLaughlin survey found that 49 percent of respondents said the U.S. is not in a recession, down from 58 percent in August. It also noted that 41 percent of respondents said they are struggling to make ends meet.
Trump lives in a fantasy world removed from the average American. He doesn’t understand that you can’t lie about what’s at the grocery store or what the utility bill says. People see those things on a weekly and monthly basis. They know what’s coming out of their own pockets and some pie in the sky lie about investments and how rich we’re all going to be doesn’t cut it. The only people getting richer are Trump and his friends.
And you’re not hearing much about the $5,000 DOGE checks or the $2,000 tariffs checks, now are you? And you won’t. Plus, another new set of polls will hit on Monday. Let’s see how McLaughlin and Trump’s other favorite poll, Rasmussen, rank him this week. I see a pair of coffee boys in our future.
Your poke at Trump “… in his dream world the economy is booming like never before. Just ask him …” is a solid reveal, too: when understood that the economy is advancing, but in the reverse direction. Prez E Con De Rudderless doesn’t want that reality to het out in the wild, and blot his economic management copybook. What’s happening and being reported is as a true indicator on how bad he’s mis-managing the domestic economy.
I’m trying to figure out a couple of the stats and how they work.
Look at the numbers for “Married” and “Single.” Among “Married” people, there’s a 50-46 swing for “Right track” while among “Single” people, it’s a staggering 67-24 for “Wrong track.” But then, look at the “Men” and “Women” numbers. “Men” believe things are on the “Wrong track” narrowly, 48-47 while “Women” believe things are on the “Wrong track” by 63-29. HOW? How do these numbers work? Did the sample feature more single people than married people? (Numbers as of 2022 show that there were a little more than 1 million more single people than married but the disparity in the right/wrong track view among married people compared to singles and among men and women just, well, I don’t get it.)