The Unlikable President

One of Donald Trump's biggest vulnerabilities is that Americans just don't like him.

By Kenneth T. Walsh, Contributor | Jan. 26, 2018, at 6:00 a.m

For many years, pollsters and political consultants have pointed out that likability is one of the most important attributes for presidents to have in order to succeed as effective leaders. But President Donald Trump has developed a severe likability gap, and it's one of his biggest liabilities as he begins his second year in office.

Veteran Democratic pollster Peter Hart, one of the nation's most respected political analysts who helps conduct the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, says, "President Donald Trump's first year in office can only be described as a year of personal alienation from voters," with 38 percent of Americans saying they are "disgusted" with him and how he has performed his job.

In an email summary of his research provided to reporters, Hart wrote, "Based on more than a half century of watching and analyzing public opinion ratings of U.S. presidents, I have found that personal feelings toward the president – not job ratings – tell us more about their acceptability. Presidents Kennedy, Reagan and Clinton did better in terms of their personal popularity than the more accomplished presidents, Johnson, Nixon and Bush 41. Like cars with good shock absorbers, presidents with personal popularity seem to take the bumps with far less damage than those who are less popular. Even in their post-presidency, these presidents are recalled more favorably than their actual records might merit."

Today, only 36 percent of Americans have a positive view of Trump and 56 percent view him negatively, compared with 38 percent who felt positively about Trump and 48 percent who were negative when he started. This shows that the percentage of positive raters is relatively small if stable but more Americans are negative about him than before. Hart sees the latest poll results as "a full-force repudiation of President Trump's personal and professional character."

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https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2018-01-26/trumps-likability-gap-is-a-major-problem-for-his-second-year