Opinion Today
November 18, 2025
American Communities Project/Ipsos Survey Finds Steady Concerns Amid Constant National Change Dante Chinni and Ari Pinkus, American Communities Project If one were to summarize the findings of the 2025 survey, it would be that the divisions in the country are more obvious than ever, particularly around social issues. But the American people, and the many communities they call home, seem united around the idea that the economy is at best uncertain and at worst sliding downhill.
One issue is uniting Americans in a time of polarization, according to a new poll Thomas Beaumont, Simran Parwani and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, Associated Press Pessimism about the country’s future has risen in cities since last year, but rural America is more optimistic about what’s ahead for the U.S., according to a new survey from the American Communities Project.
Trump’s approval rating bounces back post-shutdown Eli Yokley & Cameron Easley, Morning Consult The share of voters who approve of the president’s job performance ticked up from 44% to 46% over the past week as his disapproval rating declined from 54% to 52%. A majority of voters (62%) said they’d heard at least something about the House Oversight Committee’s release of a 2019 email from Jeffrey Epstein in which he claimed that Trump knew that he was sexually abusing underage girls. Americans Stay Hopeful Amid Economic Challenges Amber Bonefont, Florida Atlantic University Faith in the “American Dream” persists among Americans, even as inflation and housing affordability present hurdles, according to a new poll from Florida Atlantic University’s Business and Economic Polling Initiative. A slim majority of Americans (52%) believe the “American Dream” remains true today, while 42% think it was true in the past but not today. Majorities across parties say ‘extreme political rhetoric’ was a contributor to Charlie Kirk’s killing Scott Bland, NBC News It’s the first time in NBC News polling across five different violent incidents that there has been bipartisan agreement blaming extreme rhetoric from political and media figures.
White nationalism fuels tolerance for political violence nationwide Murat Haner, Justin Pickett and Melissa Sloan, The Conversation Understanding what drives individuals to endorse political violence is essential for developing effective strategies to prevent it. As public opinion researchers who have studied Americans’ attitudes toward ideological extremism, political polarization and counterterrorism policy, we sought to advance our understanding of the factors underlying public support for political violence in the United States. We aimed to do this in two ways: by using more specific questioning techniques and by identifying the factors associated with increased support for violence.
November 2025 Verified Voter Omnibus Echelon Insights • Donald Trump’s job approval stands at 42% approve, 57% disapprove • Democrats lead on the 2026 generic congressional ballot, 49-45 • A 47% plurality of Democrats say the party needs to move to the center to win the next presidential election • Democrats say the party needs to be more combative against Trump by an 85-10 margin
Latino State of Play: 2025 Elections and New Equis Polling Equis On November 4th, a year after Trump and Republicans made sizeable gains with Latino voters across the country, Democrats recovered some support among Latinos in key elections. The dissatisfaction Latino voters have expressed in polling throughout the year was not a mirage; it showed up at the ballot box.
How Do Americans Experience Healthcare in Their State? Ellyn Maese, Gallup Nearly half of U.S. adults (47%) are worried they won’t be able to afford necessary healthcare in the coming year, the highest level of concern recorded since West Health and Gallup began tracking the measure in 2021. One in five Americans — also a record high — report that they or someone in their household couldn’t pay for prescription medications in the past three months. These are merely two of countless healthcare hurdles Americans face.
Strategies for school safety C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health asked a national sample of parents of children 6-12 about safety issues at the school their child is attending for the 2025-26 school year.
How Big is the Political Divide Between Mainline Clergy and Laity Ryan Burge, Graphs about Religion Mainline clergy are decidedly left of center politically. Meanwhile, their membership is politically diverse and, by many estimates, ends up slightly right of center on matters of partisanship and ideology.
The Most Joyless Tech Revolution Ever: AI Is Making Us Rich and Unhappy Greg Ip, Wall Street Journal [unlocked] Artificial intelligence might be the most transformative technology in generations. It is also the most joyless. While Wall Street greets AI with open arms, ordinary Americans respond with ambivalence, anxiety, even dread.
