By a 12-point margin, registered voters say they’d prefer to elect a Democrat to Congress over a Republican, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.

The poll finds more voters think Democrats would do a better job dealing with gas prices, the economy, and foreign policy than Republicans amid rising prices and the war in Iran. A majority also say it is more important to back candidates with new ideas who will bring about change than those with experience and a proven record.

President Trump continues to sit at near record low approval ratings, with just 39% approving of his job and the highest share of strong disapproval — 53% — since the question was first asked in 2017.

In the final weeks of the 2026 campaign, Democrats have a notable edge in voter enthusiasm and support from independents as a building wave of backlash to the party in power comes into focus.

The survey of 1,280 respondents was conducted September 14-15 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.8 percentage points, meaning results could be about 3.8 points higher or lower. Respondents were reached by live caller, text and online.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260923121152/https://www.npr.org/2026/09/23/nx-s1-5977613/trump-poll-democrats-congress

  • gAlienLifeformOP
    3·
    15 days ago

    Interesting theory, but imo

    a) Never ever ever bring up Biden, his administration was a failure that was rejected by voters and there’s absolutely no need to waste political capital trying to rehabilitate his legacy. If someone else brings him up the answer should always be “Biden failed because [whatever], what my administration will do differently is [whatever].”

    b) I think most voters are going to have a really hard time believing that anything bad could ever happen to them personally the same way they think about car crashes and mass shootings, so I think the “ICE is Trump’s Gestapo and a threat to you” argument will fall flat (even though in reality it’s an excellent point). Like, even with Renee Good they will say “Well, that was terrible, but she was a protestor and I’m not so I’m fine.”

    c) Closet bigots still think bigotry is bad, they just also believe they’re not bigots, so appealing to bigotry too directly isn’t going to win them over and it will make progressive voters stay home. I think emphasizing the “law abiding” nature of most migrants will reach that exact type of voter tho (like, law abiding is just assumed when we’re talking about white citizens and it’s not with brown migrants, which is a fucked up double standard, but arguing about that is almost as big of a waste of time as arguing with people about Joe Biden in 2026).