What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending July 28, 2018

While opponents of President Trump are forcing the Democratic Party to the far left, Republicans are quite happy with the direction the president is heading.

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Likely Republican Voters say when it comes to the major issues facing the nation, their views are closer to Trump than to those of the average Republican in Congress. Among all voters, 50% lean right, with 37% in line with the president and 13% who identify with the average GOP congressman. Thirty-nine percent (39%) agree instead with the average Democrat in Congress.

Forty-five percent (45%) of both Republicans and Democrats agree that Trump sets the agenda in Washington, DC these days. The GOP-led Congress is a distant second.

Among voters who Strongly Approve of the job Trump is doing as president, illegal immigration is by far the biggest concern. Most voters who Strongly Disapprove of the president’s job performance are most concerned with his administration’s alleged connections to Russia.

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After the media uproar over the president's recent press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Democrats strongly defend those who think Trump is a traitor. Other voters say they’re just playing politics with the claim.

Voters are almost evenly divided when asked if Trump is more aggressive or less aggressive with Russia than most recent presidents.

Republicans think most world leaders see Trump as stronger than President Obama, but Democrats say they view him as weaker than his predecessor. Most active duty military personnel and veterans believe Trump is a stronger commander-in-chief for the military than most recent presidents.

With all the hubbub over Russian hacking during the 2016 election, it’s no surprise that just 39% of voters think the U.S. government does a good job protecting its secrets.

Voters in general also think Trump is more faithful to the U.S. Constitution than Obama was.

At week’s end, 46% approved of the job Trump is doing in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll. That’s virtually identical to Obama’s approval ratings in late July of the second year of his presidency.

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Democrats continue to lead on the weekly Generic Congressional Ballot.

Democrats are less likely to know what socialism is compared to other voters but have a much more favorable opinion of it. They stop well short, however, of thinking the Democratic Party should become a national socialist party.

The latest Rasmussen Minute takes a closer look at the potential 2020 matchup between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are among those touted as serious Democratic presidential contenders in 2020, but three-out-of-four Democrats think their party needs to turn to someone new.

Voters here are closely divided over the need to take military action against Iran, but most now believe a stronger international reaction is necessary to stop the Iranians from building a nuclear bomb.

There’s a strong possibility Iran will create a nuclear weapon soon, voters say, but they rate the threat of an Iranian nuclear attack as greater for Israel than for the United States.

San Francisco is allowing non-citizen parents and guardians of children, including illegal immigrants, to vote in the upcoming school board elections. Most voters nationwide oppose letting illegal immigrants vote in local elections, but Democrats are receptive to it.

Only 37% of all voters say they want to live in a sanctuary community that protects illegal immigrants from federal immigration authorities.

Conservatives are complaining about being targeted by Facebook, and most users of the social media site want free speech without interference.

In other surveys last week:

-- Forty-one percent (41%) of voters say the  country is headed in the right direction.

-- Americans like the idea of changing work schedules from five eight-hour days to four 10-hour shifts and see the potential for improved productivity. But 55% of working Americans say they now work more than 40 hours a week.

-- Americans think kids today aren’t getting enough exercise, and most still believe children in the United States are less physically fit than those in other countries.

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