It is a modestly sized finding, but a telling one. A positive by-product of President Trump’s tax reform is emerging: the Trump bump voter.
A new Morning Consult/Politico poll finds that 63 percent of those voters who have noticed a bump in their paychecks in recent weeks say that the increase in their take-home pay makes them “more likely to support” Mr. Trump. The poll found that 84 percent of Republicans, 63 percent of independents and even 29 percent of Democrats agree. Only 15 percent of voters overall said the bump in their paychecks made them less likely to support Mr. Trump.
Meanwhile, there’s a benefit for lawmakers who supported Mr. Trump’s bill, as well. The poll found that 65 percent of all voters said that the bump in their pay makes them more likely to support Republicans in Congress who voted for the legislation. That includes 85 percent of Republicans, 63 percent of independents and 35 percent of Democrats.
The news is not so positive for Mr. Trump’s opponents, however. Almost half of all voters — 48 percent — say they are now less likely to support Democrats in Congress who voted against the tax bill. That includes 66 percent of Republicans, 57 percent of independents and 10 percent of Democrats.
The answers came from a subset of 439 registered U.S. voters, part of a larger poll of 1,993 voters conducted April 19-23.
Do they matter? Yes, considering the current state of the political playing field and the potential for close races in the midterms and presidential race in 2020. This playing field is now wall-to-wall with precise micro-targeting meant to identify, attract and motivate niche voters who can be gathered in, one-by-one, by strategists on both sides of the aisle. Democrats and progressive, for example, are now intent on wooing rural voters, 60 percent of whom voted for Mr. Trump.
Trump bump voters may be next to join the list of potential support for the president, along with lawmakers confronting stiff competition in the crucial midterms.
THE KANYE FACTOR
#KANYE2024 is the new social media hashtag of the moment, now publicized by public posters in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City, bearing a portrait of hip-hop artist Kanye West and the motto “Keep America Great.” The uber-popular Mr. West — who has close to 19 million followers on Twitter — has gone public with his interest in running for president in 2024, and his support for President Trump. The aspiring candidate instantly shot to the top of the national trends on Twitter with his revelations, covered by a wide variety of news organizations from Esquire and Billboard, to Entertainment Tonight and Breitbart.com.
A few headlines of note as Mr. West’s new political profile takes hold: “Kanye West, alt-right darling” (Washington Post); “Kanye tweets right: What happens when a hip hop icon takes the red pill and dares to challenge liberals” (Fox News); “Donald Trump and Kanye West having Twitter bromance” (Deadline Hollywood); “Kanye 2024 posters are spotted as rumors grow of presidential run” (Esquire); “Kanye West and Trump haven’t met lately, White House says” (Politico); “Kanye West corrects ‘fake news’ on Twitter and hints at 2024” (E! Online).
THE KID ROCK FACTOR
Robert James Ritchie — aka the rock star Kid Rock — announced his interest in running for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan last year, even offering a few campaign speeches of sorts at his concerts, with a few hints that he also was interested a presidential run.
Mr. Ritchie — who is said to be both a Republican and a libertarian — has not mentioned his political plans lately, and instead is planning a 21-city national tour titled “Red Blooded Rock ‘n’ Roll Redneck Extravaganza.”
But his campaign site is still active. Curious? Find it at KidRockforSenate.com.
UP GO THE SALARIES
“Wages for U.S. workers grew 2.9 percent over the last year, increasing the average wage level by 57 cents to $27.36 an hour,” reports the ADP Research Institute’s Workforce Vitality Report released Wednesday, which cited in particular the “strong wage gains” for workers in the information industry (5.6 percent wage growth, $41.38 average hourly wage), in western states (3.5 percent, $29.27) and in small businesses (3.3 percent, $25.47).
Things also are humming in the leisure and hospitality industry, where wage growth was up by 4.3 percent; in companies with 49 or fewer workers, where wages rose 3.3. percent; and in the Northeast, where they were up by 3.1 percent.
The IT realm was still the place to be, however.
“Information continued to lead the way for both wage level and wage growth,” the report said. “In addition to the top overall wage growth number of 5.6 percent, new entrants into the information field had 7.6 percent wage growth. Those who successfully switched positions within the information industry had wage growth of 8.3 percent,” ADP said.
A HEFTY PRICE TAG
The numbers continue to reveal the costs of illegal immigration.
“The federal government paid a ‘bed rate’ of $127.82 per day to house each illegal alien detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in fiscal 2016, according to ICE data published in a new report by the Government Accountability Office. Even if you do not count the extra day in that leap year, that works out to $46,654.30 for each detention bed occupied by an illegal alien for 365 days,” writes Terence P. Jeffrey, editor in chief of CNSNews.com.
“The approximately $46,654 it cost to house a detained illegal alien for 365 days in fiscal 2016 was approximately $104 more than the average income for Americans 15 and older that year—which, according to Census Bureau Table PINC-01, was $46,550,” Mr. Jeffrey says.
POLL DU JOUR
• 46 percent of U.S. voters say that to the best of their knowledge, their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were born in the U.S.; 46 percent of Republicans, 46 percent of independents and 46 percent of Democrats agree.
• 23 percent say their parents were born in the U.S., but at least one of their grandparents immigrated to the U.S.; 26 percent of Republicans, 22 percent of independents and 23 percent of Democrats agree.
• 19 percent say their parents and grandparents were born in the U.S., but at least one of their great-grandparents immigrated to the U.S.; 20 percent of Republicans, 20 percent of independents and 18 percent of Democrats agree.
• 9 percent say at least one of their parents immigrated to the U.S.; 7 percent of Republicans, 6 percent of independents and 10 percent of Democrats agree.
Source: A Morning Consult/Politico poll of 1,910 registered U.S. voters conducted April 19-23.
Straight facts and innuendo to [email protected]
The Washington Times Comment Policy
The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link “Have a Disqus Account?”. Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Source:Washington Times
