Opinion Today
February 11, 2026
The electorate is leaning toward Democrats in the midterms — and toward expecting a Democratic win Taylor Orth, YouGov Many Americans anticipate a Democratic victory in November's congressional elections and more registered voters say they would vote for a Democrat than a Republican if congressional elections were held today.
Net approval of Donald Trump's handling of the economy and immigration dip to second-term lows David Montgomery, YouGov Far more Americans disapprove than approve of Donald Trump's job performance. Immigration is one of the issues for which Americans are most likely to approve of Trump's job performance, but approval of his handling of immigration is at a record low.
Most Americans want fewer immigration agents in Minneapolis, and more support than oppose abolishing ICE Taylor Orth, YouGov Most Americans want fewer federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, and slightly more Americans support than oppose abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Half of Americans think Donald Trump was involved in Jeffrey Epstein's alleged crimes Taylor Orth, YouGov Most Americans are aware of the recent release of files relating to the case against Jeffrey Epstein, and more Americans disapprove than approve of how Donald Trump is handling the Epstein investigation. Half of Americans believe Trump is trying to cover up Epstein's crimes and a similar share believe he was personally involved in them.
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Trump International Airport? Most Americans disapprove of renaming Dulles Taylor Orth, YouGov By large margins, Americans oppose each of three recent Donald Trump construction projects: building a new White House ballroom, renovating the Trump-Kennedy Center, and building an arch near the Lincoln Memorial. Large shares also disapprove of his renaming of the Kennedy Center and his proposed renaming of the Dulles Airport.
Few Americans want to increase overall government spending, but many support spending more in specific areas David Montgomery and Taylor Orth, YouGov Americans are more likely to support reducing federal spending in general than increasing it — but to support increased spending on each of a host of major budget areas, including Social Security, Medicare, aid to the poor, and national defense.
Americans are more worried about the economy than about their own finances David Montgomery, YouGov Many Americans see the economy as getting worse and prices of key items rising, but smaller shares of Americans are worried about their personal finances.
Democrats gain an edge as poll shows doubts on Trump energy strategy Zack Colman, Politico Slightly more Americans think Democrats, not Republicans, are the party most committed to reducing energy prices, a new POLITICO poll has found — yet another sign of potential trouble for President Donald Trump and the GOP on the issue of affordability.
Where Do Young Men Stand Ahead of the 2026 Midterms? Lucas Holtz, Third Way In focus groups from last year, we found that Democrats have a significant challenge on their hands to reverse their slippage with young men, but neither party has cemented them as a reliable voter bloc. To further analyze where the young male electorate stands today, Third Way worked with HIT Strategies to conduct a nationwide mixed mode survey in December 2025 of 1,462 young men, 18 to 29 years old, who are registered to vote.
U.K. Leads World in Concern About Migration Benedict Vigers and John Reimnitz, Gallup The United Kingdom is more likely than any other country in the world to cite immigration as its top national problem. In 2025, just over one in five Britons (21%) named immigration as their No. 1 concern, statistically tied with mentions of the economy (23%). By contrast, immigration barely registers as a top issue elsewhere.
Americans Find It Harder to Get News About Their Neighborhood Than About the World Civic Information Needs Census Americans find it harder to stay informed about their neighborhoods, towns, and cities than about national and international news, according to a new study by the Civic Information Needs Census.
Study Finds Declining Perceptions of Safety of Covid-19, Flu, and MMR Vaccines Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania In a winter marked by flu outbreaks, the persistence of Covid-19, and surges of measles cases across the United States, an Annenberg survey finds that a sizable majority of Americans think the three vaccines that combat these potentially deadly illnesses are safe to take, although perceptions of the safety of all three vaccines showed a statistically significant drop over the past three years.
Five Key Takeaways From PRRI’s New Survey on Political Violence in America Melissa Deckman, PRRI Americans want political leaders to play a stronger role in lowering the temperature of our political discourse Majority say U.S. performance at the Olympics makes them feel proud to be American Ipsos A new Ipsos poll finds that a majority of Americans say the Olympic team’s performance makes them proud to be an American, though slightly fewer hold this sentiment now compared to 2024. The poll also finds that most Americans plan to watch this year’s Winter Olympics. Among those who plan to watch, figure skating tops the list of favorite events, followed by the opening ceremony.
Local governments provide proof that polarization is not inevitable Lauren Hall, Rochester Institute of Technology A survey of more than 1,400 local officials by the Carnegie Corporation and CivicPulse found that local governments are “largely insulated from the harshest effects of polarization.” Communities with fewer than 50,000 residents proved especially resilient to partisan dysfunction. Virginia: Maintaining civic norms far outpaced inflation and immigration in November election L. Douglas Wilder and Robyn McDougle, L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University Virginians continue to express deep concern about the state of democracy, according to findings from the latest Commonwealth Poll. Results show that concerns about democracy and civic norms played a central role in voter behavior and policy priorities in the November gubernatorial election. When asked about their motivation for voting, a plurality of registered voters (41%) said maintaining democracy and civility was their top reason for turning out. Similarly, nearly one-third (32%) of respondents said threats to democracy should be the top issue facing legislators during the current General Assembly session.
If Democrats are so unpopular, why are they winning? Charles Franklin, PollsAndVotes Discontent doesn’t mean defection How polls show Republicans shifted away from caring so much about Jeffrey Epstein Aaron Blake, CNN For years, conservative influencers and Republican politicians kept the flame lit when it came to pushing for more information about Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. ... But as we were finally getting a big peek behind the curtain late last month, with the Justice Department releasing millions of pages of documents, there was an interesting dynamic. Conservatives didn’t care too much — at least relative to the left — and conservative TV didn’t cover it too much, new polling suggests. As Trump presidency enters second year, his voters share hopes – and concerns Julia Harte, Reuters Joyce Kenney is even happier with Donald Trump today than when she voted for him in 2024. “I would gladly vote for him any time,” said the 74-year-old retiree in Prescott Valley, Arizona. With Trump confronting nationwide protests against his immigration policies, mounting cost-of-living complaints, and tensions with countries from Denmark to Colombia, Kenney and 19 other Trump voters spoke to Reuters about what they want him to accomplish in the year ahead. Even Trump Can’t Go Back to the Future William A. Galston, Wall Street Journal [unlocked] To MAGA, the 1950s were a better time. But the White House can’t bring it back. Will Stephen Miller Cost Republicans the House and Senate? Dan Pfeiffer, The Message Box The cruelty, chaos, and incompetence of Miller's mass deportation dreams have mortally wounded Trump's political standing The GOP Is Panicking Over Noncitizen Voting. It’s Imaginary. Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine It’s hard to overstate the importance of the myth of mass noncitizen voting to the MAGA mind-set. It’s at the heart of the white-supremacist Great Replacement Theory, which claims nonwhite immigrants are taking over America via the ballot box. And it’s not just fringe voices pushing this myth. What the Crypto Crash Reveals About Trump's Power Will Gottsegen, The Atlantic [unlocked] The president’s support was never a guarantee of the market’s stability. Republican Cash Edge Threatens to Swamp Democrats in the Midterms Shane Goldmacher and Theodore Schleifer, New York Times [unlocked] “Donald Trump has 99 problems going into the midterms,” one Democratic strategist said. “But money ain’t one.” Checking in on the Democrats’ Senate Outlook Michael Baharaeen, The Liberal Patriot At the end of last year, we wrote about how the 2026 midterm environment was shaping up to be a good one for the Democratic Party. Despite this apparent momentum, however, one place that could still be a challenge for Democrats this November is the U.S. Senate. Members of Congress are fleeing the job at a historically high rate Bridget Bowman, NBC News Fifty-one House members and nine senators have decided not to run for re-election, the most retirements from Congress this century. As colleagues wind down their careers, Rosa DeLauro is staying put Daniela Altimari, Roll Call Connecticut Democrat evades retirement buzz with powerful gavel once more in sight Why Wisconsin’s voters are America's most valuable Andrew Howard, Politico A new initiative breaks down which zip codes have the most competitive elections in America. How to deal with the survey-taking AI agents that threaten to upend social science Folco Panizza, Yara Kyrychenko & Jon Roozenbeek, Nature Researchers need new bot-detection strategies that exploit the limits of human reasoning rather than AI weaknesses. America Isn’t Ready for What AI Will Do to Jobs Josh Tyrangiel, The Atlantic [unlocked] Does anyone have a plan for what happens next?
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Gen Z's Problem with "Fake" News Washington Monthly In two major surveys of US teens conducted over the last two years, the nonprofit News Literacy Project found deep levels of mistrust and misunderstanding of the news. The root of this distrust is the lack of “newsliteracy,” argues Charles ("Chuck") Salter, the News Literacy Project’s President and CEO.
Pro-Trump Social Media Influencers Emerge as Washington’s New Lobbyists Political Breakdown For decades, paid lobbyists have worked to sway politicians into voting their way on legislation. But now young, conservative social media creators are exerting their own influence, largely without regulation or oversight. Scott and Marisa are joined by Wall Street Journal reporter Maggie Severns to discuss how corporate and foreign interests are paying pro-Trump social media influencers to promote their political causes.
FBI documents show what led to raid of Georgia elections office PBS News Hour The FBI raid on a Georgia elections office was fueled by an investigation into so-called “deficiencies” in the 2020 election. That’s according to an unsealed FBI agent’s affidavit filed by the DOJ in federal court. White House correspondent Liz Landers reports.