What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending July 7, 2018

News reports said President Trump had narrowed his search for his next U.S. Supreme Court nominee to three candidates, and he is expected to announce his selection on Monday.

Voters agree with Trump and Senate Republicans that the time to put a new justice on the U.S. Supreme Court is now.

But voters don’t anticipate that his pick will please everyone.

Illegal immigration remains a contentious issue for Democrats and many political pundits.

In fact, a growing number of Democrats are calling for abolishing the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, but even among voters in their own party, there’s not much support for the idea. Maybe that’s because voters think the government needs to be even more aggressive in deporting illegal immigrants.

Last weekend, Americans nationwide protested against the separation of immigrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border although a Trump executive order the previous week ended the practice.

Despite outrage over the current border crisis, more voters now think a merit-based immigration system should win out over the current family-based one.

Voters tend to see illegal immigration in terms of its detriments to the country’s safety and financial bottom line.

On the economic front, while spending may have grounded for summer, sentiments on the economy are still flying high.

In fact, stock markets were still on the uptick yesterday with the start of the imposition of tariffs on a range of Chinese imports. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of voters think Trump’s handling of trade issues is more aggressive than most recent presidents pushing what’s good for America.

Trump earned a monthly job approval of 47% in June, down one point from May and another step down from 49% in April, his high for the year to date.

For Republicans, Trump’s presidency will go down in the record books as a successful one. But for Democrats, his time in the White House won't be praised.

In other surveys last week:

-- Democrats continue to hold onto their lead in this week’s Rasmussen Reports Generic Congressional Ballot.

-- In New York, a Democratic Socialist candidate just unseated a near-20-year veteran in one of the state’s Democratic congressional primaries, and she contends she represents the Democratic Party's future. But voters reject socialism in no uncertain terms.

-- The Fourth of July continues to be one of the nation’s most important holidays in the eyes of Americans, but the number of adults who feel that way is dwindling.

-- Forty-one percent (41%) of Likely U.S. Voters now 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.