What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending December 8, 2018

The holiday season is now in full swing, but as the White House and Congress work to wrap up their business in an unusually contentious political period, the nation paused this week to honor the passing of the 41^st U.S. president.

The liberal media which excoriated George H.W. Bush during his 1989-1993 term now proclaims its love for him following his death last week. Even most Democrats, it seems, now look favorably on the former Republican president. 

Meanwhile, President Trump earned a monthly job approval of 48% in November, down one point from October and the year-to-date high of 49%.

While hope breeds eternal in the hearts of Democrats, other voters see little chance of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation trapping Trump. 

But the president isn’t waiting for the special counsel’s report to defend the integrity of his 2016 campaign and announced in a tweet yesterday that his attorneys have already completed 87 pages of a report to counter what they expect from Mueller.  

Most voters think Trump is likely to win again in 2020, but Democrats are entering the upcoming presidential election more enthusiastically than other voters are.

Voters also think the new trade deal with Canada and Mexico will pass Congress, and they’re slightly more confident these days that it will be better for the United States than the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

General Motors announced last week that it plans to cut more than 14,000 employees in North America. This news makes Americans regret the federal government’s bailout GM received during the Great Recession.

Otherwise, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and perhaps that’s because more Americans are decorating their homes this year for the holidays.

With holiday shopping in full swing, Americans continue to worry that people are spending beyond their means. 

Online shopping, too, is on the rise this holiday season, meaning more online credit card use than ever. But despite frequently reported hacking efforts, Americans are less concerned that their reliance on the internet puts the overall economy at risk. 

This year’s biggest online shopping day, Cyber Monday, broke sales records, and most plan to do at least some of their holiday shopping this year via the web. Regardless of how they shop, though, most Americans enjoy the process.

In other surveys last week:

-- California has adopted a law that allows doctors to prescribe life-ending drugs if they determine a patient has six months or less to live, and Americans continue to favor such voluntary euthanasia laws. Many would even consider it for themselves or a loved one.

-- Researchers worldwide are investigating a rise in food allergies, especially among children. Here in the United States, roughly one-in-five Americans say the potentially fatal problem has affected them, most often as the result of nut allergies.

-- Forty percent (40%) of voters think the country is heading in the right direction. 

Visit the Rasmussen Reports home page for the latest current polling coverage of events in the news. The page is updated several times each day.

Remember, if it's in the news, it's in our polls.