After months of facing a potential blue wave of losses in the 2018 midterms, the Republican Party has taken the lead in a generic congressional poll, according to Morning Consult. In this same poll, President Trump’s job approval rating has also jumped.
Currently, the GOP enjoys a +1 point lead on the generic poll. A full 39 percent say they would choose a Republican over a Democrat in their respective district, while 38 percent said the same about the Democrat. Only 23 percent remain undecided.
In the past, on this same poll, Democrats have enjoyed leads ranging from two to ten points.
While this is the first poll in a long time giving the GOP an advantage, it is in keeping with the overall trend in other polls that have moved towards Republicans. One month ago, Democrats enjoyed a double digit lead. That has now shrunk to less than seven points.
There is also positive news for Trump, who now enjoys a 47 percent job approval rating. The same number, 47 percent, disapprove. This is especially good because this is the rare poll that does not have the president’s disapproval above 50 percent or underwater. He is even-steven at 47-47.
Even the far-left polling outfit PPP has Trump at 44 percent approve, 50 disapprove — a noticeable improvement. They do, though, show Democrats with an eight point lead on the congressional generic ballot.
Helping congressional Republicans is the fact that voters trust them more on key issues such as creating jobs (+9) and immigration (+6). The GOP also has a stunning +19 point lead on the issue of national security. Even on the issue of health care, where Democrats usually swamp Republicans, that lead has shrunk to just four points. full story