Pre-Trump vs post-Trump: How Americans feel now

Trump's unpopularity is now dominating the political scene

In the 365 days since Donald Trump was elected president, the national mood has changed in some important ways. The most important of those changes is simply this: Trump has become less popular, and his political opponents have become more popular.
 

His unpopularity is now dominating the political scene. Democrats won a wave of victories on Tuesday, many in conservative areas. Congressional Republicans, for their part, are announcing retirements at an unusually rapid clip, fearful that Trump’s standing will drag them down in 2018.

Trump’s approval rating has fallen among supporters of each party. Overall, it fell from 45 percent at the start of his presidency to 38 percent this week, according to Gallup:

 

Democrats aren’t the only Trump foils who have benefited from his unpopularity. Some of the institutions that have been his targets for withering criticism have become more trusted, too. He has blasted both the legal system and the media, the public has more faith in both than it did a year ago:

 

You've probably noticed that there is an exception to the overall trends in those charts above. Self-identified Republicans remain quite happy with Trump (and they're even less happy with the media). That dynamic also has consequences. Republicans who have defied Trump, like Jeff Flake, have generally lost support from the party's base. Flake’s political career seems over because of his criticism of Trump.

Trump's first year has also provided a striking example of the way that partisanship drives other attitudes. Just look at people's attitudes about the economy or crime:

Since Trump's victory, Republicans have become more satisfied with the economy and more comfortable with the amount of local crime, while Democrats have become less so. It's almost as if the two groups are living in different countries.

Attitudes on guns have also diverged, although that trend probably has as much to do with recent mass shootings than with Trump. Notably, Republican and independents show no sign of changing their minds about gun control, which helps explain why legislation isn't going anywhere in Congress.

There is at least one area in which Democrats and Republicans seem to agree, though: Both groups say they plan to spend more money during the holidays this year.

This trend seems particularly worthy of reflection among Democrats who wonder why Republicans allow their partisan views to dictate everything else. In the case of the economy, the Democrats seem to be the ones letting partisanship color reality. How else to explain their newly dark view of the country's economy — as you can see in the chart above — and their willingness to spend more on holiday shopping?

Still, Republicans face the bigger risks of partisan denial right now. Their president is unpopular — and, so far, notably unsuccessful in passing legislation. Yet the party shows little sign of changing direction.  ©2017 The New York Times News Service