Opinion Today
May 6, 2026
Poll: Trump blamed for gas prices as Democrats gain midterm edge Domenico Montanaro, NPR News A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll finds strong support for Democrats this midterm season. It also shows increasing concern about the war in Iran and the economy, particularly the price of gas.
6 in 10 Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling Iran Hannah Grabenstein, PBS News Six in 10 Americans disapprove of the way President Donald Trump is handling his war in Iran, including more than one in five Republicans, according to a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll.... Overall, Trump's approval rating remains low; 37% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 59% disapprove -- relatively unchanged from March.
Dissatisfaction with President Trump's Handling of Iran Up Marist Institute for Public Opinion An increasing proportion of Americans now report they disapprove of how President Donald Trumps is handling Iran, and more than six in ten say U.S. military action in Iran has done more harm than good. Though his overall job approval rating remains in the high 30s, dissatisfaction with how President Trump is handling the economy has inched up.
Poll finds broad rejection of religion-related messages from Trump, Hegseth Michelle Boorstein and Scott Clement, The Washington Post [unlocked] Americans rate Pope Leo positively but are deeply critical of the president’s social media post that appeared to depict him as Jesus, the Post-ABC-Ipsos poll found.
Americans have favorable view of Pope Leo, negative reaction to Trump's Jesus post: ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll Emily Guskin and Elizabeth Schreier, ABC News As Secretary of State Marco Rubio heads to meet the pope at the Vatican later this week and amid President Donald Trump’s recent criticisms of the Chicago-born pope, Americans voice positive reactions toward Pope Leo XIV and his comments about war and peace along with negative reactions to Trump’s comments about the pope, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
Americans are worried about inflation and don't like how Trump is handling it David Montgomery, YouGov The latest Economist / YouGov Poll shows that 61% of Americans say the economy is getting worse — the largest share of Americans to say this since 2022, and the most to ever say this in either of Donald Trump's two terms as president.
MAHA Health Concerns Resonate Broadly but Lag Behind Health Care Costs Even for MAHA Voters KFF Chemical food additive and pesticide concerns associated with the Make America Health Again (MAHA) movement are shared broadly across the public. But when it comes to voters, health care costs are a higher priority and bigger motivator, even among MAHA supporters, a new KFF Health Tracking Poll finds.
Nonretirees' Worry Remains High Megan Brenan, Gallup The persistent gap between retirees' financial comfort and nonretirees' expectations points to a retirement landscape that looks uncertain for those well below retirement age. Nonretirees are less likely than retirees to count on Social Security being a major income source in retirement and more likely to expect to rely on personal savings accounts and part-time work.
Only one-quarter of Americans support letting states draw districts to help minority candidates get elected David Montgomery, YouGov The latest Economist / YouGov Poll finds little support for allowing states to draw congressional districts with the intention of facilitating the election of minority candidates.
Most Americans think Trump is at a higher risk of assassination than other recent presidents were Alexander Rossell Hayes, YouGov This week's Economist / YouGov Poll asked Americans what they think about the risk of assassination attempts against Trump, the job that the Secret Service is doing, and Trump's plans to build a new ballroom so that larger events could be hosted inside the White House.
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Focus Group Report Pt 2: Healthcare Providers Diagnose the American Healthcare System Tina Tang, Navigator Research This Navigator Research report focuses on how Americans view the healthcare system and their greatest pain points. Connecticut: Residents Report Higher Social Media Use Than Neighbors, Most Say Social Media Negative for Society University of New Hampshire Survey Center Social media users in Connecticut report using social media platforms just over 24 hours per week, higher than residents of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. More than half of social media users want to use it less, particularly those under 50, and a quarter feel addicted to social media. Massachusetts: Users Split on Personal Impact of Social Media But Most See Negative Effect for Society University of New Hampshire Survey Center Social media users in Massachusetts report using social media platforms just over 18 hours per week and nearly half want to use social media less often. YouTube is the most commonly used platform, though the small number who use Snapchat and Discord report using it quite frequently. New Hampshire: Granite Staters See Social Media as Harmful to Society But Most Still Use It At Least Occasionally University of New Hampshire Survey Center Social media users in New Hampshire on average report using social media platforms nearly 17 hours per week, with YouTube and Facebook being the most popular. New Jersey: Most Voters Would Support Local Data Center Bans The William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University A majority of New Jersey voters are concerned about the growth of artificial intelligence data centers and 56% would support banning them in their own communities, according to a Stockton poll released by the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University. New Jersey voters remain wary of growing reliance on AI and expect labor market disruptions as the AI boom accelerates.
New York State: Hochul Favorability & Approval Ratings Each Drop 8 Points; Her Lead Over Blakeman Grows 3 Points to 49-33% The Siena Research Institute • 49% Say New York’s Best Days Are Still Ahead & 32% Say Best Days Are Behind Us; 36% Say NY Does Not Spend Enough on Programs Like Health Care, Education & Infrastructure, 22% Say NY Spends Too Much & 29% Say NY Spends the Right Amount • Trump Favorability & Approval Ratings Edge Down; Fav Rating Lowest in Current Term • America’s Pope, Leo XIV, Viewed Favorably 55-19% Nearly a Year into Papacy • NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is still viewed favorably – barely – by a plurality of voters statewide, 43-40%, down a little from 44-37% in March and 47-35% in February. His favorability rating in New York City is 56-34%, and it is worth noting, higher than Hochul, 46-37%, Attorney General Letitia James, 49-24%, and Senator Chuck Schumer, who is viewed unfavorably by New York City voters 37-45%.
Rhode Island: More Than a Quarter of Social Media Users Feel Addicted, Most Young Users Want to Use It Less University of New Hampshire Survey Center Social media users in Rhode Island report using social media platforms nearly 22 hours per week. More than half of social media users want to use it less, particularly those under 50, and more than a quarter feel addicted to social media. Texas: Republican Primary Runoff Elections The Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston The Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston conducted a representative survey of likely May 2026 Texas Republican primary runoff voters to assess their vote intention and opinions in the Republican Texas U.S. Senate, Texas Attorney General and Texas Railroad Commissioner primary runoff elections.
Texas Latinos Flocked to Trump. They’re Having Second Thoughts Ronald Brownstein, Bloomberg Opinion The Rio Grande Valley was the epicenter of President Donald Trump’s 2024 gains among Latino voters. The voters here — who are mostly low-income and preponderantly Mexican American — have voted overwhelmingly Democratic for generations. But after narrowing his deficit in 2020, Trump broke through in 2024 to capture all four counties in the valley. The Republican Party’s new congressional maps in Texas, which triggered the ongoing nationwide redistricting war, rest on the assumption that the GOP can cement those gains. Yet visible cracks in Trump’s support are showing. Trump Is Losing Normie Republicans Kristen Soltis Anderson (Echelon Insights), The New York Times [unlocked] We often talk about Republicans as members of two easy-to-understand factions: MAGA die-hards and Never Trumpers. But the most electorally critical slice of the Republican electorate, about half of all Republicans today, generally falls into neither camp. ‘When You Think of It, We Shouldn’t Even Have an Election’ Thomas B. Edsall, The New York Times [unlocked] Who will keep the 2026 ballots straight? Democrats Could Use a Cold Shower Before the Midterms Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic [unlocked] They have good reason to be optimistic. But they are sounding a bit too giddy. A Supreme Court ruling could deepen red and blue dominance across states Philip Bump, CT Insider The Callais decision could intensify single-party dominance across states, reinforcing America’s political divide.
The Virginia Redistricting Vote: How it Performed on the Old and New Maps, and Some Clues for 2027 J. Miles Coleman, Sabato’s Crystal Ball • The Virginia redistricting ballot measure would have carried 6 of the 11 congressional districts under the state’s “old” map. • On the “new” map, Yes would have carried 9 districts, one less than Democrats would like to win on the map if it is used this November. • The redistricting measure passed in 55 of the 100 House of Delegates districts and 24 of the 40 state Senate seats, suggesting Democrats are positioned to keep their control of each chamber next year. Trump exacts revenge in Indiana over redistricting vote, with five GOP legislators defeated Jane C. Timm, NBC News President Donald Trump exacted revenge on Indiana Republican legislators who foiled his redistricting push last year in the state, backing challengers who unseated five incumbents in Tuesday's primaries, NBC News projects. With Indiana, Trump asserts his grip on the GOP Adam Wren, Politico The president successfully ousted a majority of the Republican state senators who blocked his redistricting effort last year. 'Ohio is back': Both parties navigate competitive midterm races in a forgotten battleground Henry J. Gomez, NBC News While Republicans are “cautiously optimistic” about Vivek Ramaswamy for governor and Jon Husted for the Senate, Democrats like their chances with Amy Acton and Sherrod Brown. How Trump Turned His Ballroom into a Midterm Gift for Democrats Dan Pfeiffer, The Message Box Trump says he can't afford childcare but wants to use your tax dollars to build a ballroom When the Cult Goes South Paul Waldman, The Cross Section It’s hard to think of a time when a president and a party worked as hard as Donald Trump and Republicans are now to lose an election. “That’s because they’re idiots,” you might say, and for many of them that’s true. But even stupid politicians have an instinct for self-preservation, one that is being violated every day as they seem to look for new ways to alienate the voters. America Is in a Red State William A. Galston, The Wall Street Journal [unlocked] The national debt is now greater than the annual GDP, and it isn’t about to shrink. This Trump Proposal Could Result in Millions of Americans Losing Their Retirement Savings Steven Rattner, The New York Times [unlocked] A win for private equity. A loss for our retirement assets. Public Opinion in the Age of AI Joshua Clinton, Soubhikl Barari, Douglas Rivers, Sean Westwood, et al., APSA Preprints Whether AI enriches or distorts the study of public opinion depends on choices that are as much theoretical as technical; but, taken to the limit, the wholesale substitution of AI-generated responses for human voices may risk a form of epistemic collapse in which public opinion research loses its anchor to the people it purports to represent.
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PLAYLIST
The Cost of Not Listening (with Dave Wasserman) Hacks On Tap This week Axe and Murphy are joined by the man who has seen it all—and has seen enough—Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report. The Hacks dive into Donald Trump’s frustrations with voters, the latest polls and money advantages shaping the map, and—of course with Wasserman in the mix—a deep dive into key races, redistricting battles, and what it all means for the midterms.
How much is the war hitting American's bottom line? Consider This from NPR There already was an affordability crisis in the U.S. Now the war with Iran is making life more expensive. President Trump says the economy is “roaring.” That as Americans are paying an average price of $4.48 a gallon for gas on Tuesday. A year ago it was $3.17. The reason for that increase — the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, which resulted in the closing of the Strait of Hormuz. Gas prices are just one measure of the cost of living in the United States. But they’re a significant one. Martha Gimbel, executive director at the Budget Lab at Yale, weighs in on how the war with Iran is affecting American's bottom line.
Are soaring rural costs improving Dem midterm odds? A report from NC CNN On this installment of "All Over the Map," John King returns to Western North Carolina to hear whether the Democratic Party can win back rural voters, and how rising prices are impacting their decisions.