美国国家公共电台 NPR Poll: Americans Not Sold On Trump — Or Democrats

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

A new poll from NPR, PBS NewsHour and Marist finds that overall, independent voters are not impressed with the direction that either party wants to take this country. And that is important ahead of the 2020 election. NPR's lead political editor Domenico Montanaro is here in the studio for more on this poll.

Hi, Domenico.

DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE¹: Hey there, Ari.

SHAPIRO: What does this poll tell us about the president and his chances at reelection given that we're still more than a year out from that election?

MONTANARO: I mean, they're not great. You know, his approval is at 44%. It's the highest, actually, in Marist's polling over the last 2 1/2 years since he became president, but it's kind of mediocre². A lot...

SHAPIRO: It's remarkable³ he's never broken 50% in these polls.

MONTANARO: Never. He's been pretty standard, you know, in the mid⁴ to high 30s to the low to mid 40s. And a lot of the improvement is because of the economy. We have a majority of people approving of his handling of it, two-thirds of people saying that it's working well for them personally. And yet, there's this disconnect between his mediocre approval rating. And you've got 54% of people saying they definitely will not vote for him in 2020.

SHAPIRO: Such an unusual gap between satisfaction with the economy and dissatisfaction with the man in the White House. Is that necessarily good news for Democrats⁵?

MONTANARO: In theory it is. Except in reality, realize 54% of people didn't vote for Donald Trump⁶ for election in 2016 as it is. You know, only 46% of people voted for him then. And people are not quite sure what to make of the Democratic primary at this point and the policies they're putting forward. They're split, they say, on Democrats and the direction that they would take the country - whether it's the right direction or the wrong direction. And by the way, independents think Democrats would take it in the wrong direction. So far, a plurality are saying that.

SHAPIRO: With so many Democrats in the running right now, there are a lot of different policy proposals out there. And I know this poll asked about a bunch of them. What were some of the things that were widely popular and a couple of things that were not?

MONTANARO: Yeah, we asked about almost two dozen things - 20 things. And let's just start with what they like. Medicare as - Medicare for All as an option to private health insurance is supported by 70% of independent voters, right?

SHAPIRO: That would be without eliminating privately⁷ run health insurance.

MONTANARO: Correct. But when you do that as an option to - when you do it to replace private health insurance, that plummets⁸ to 39% support with independents and 41% overall. Government regulation of prescription⁹ drug prices - there, two-thirds of independents like that. Providing a pathway to citizenship¹⁰ for millions of immigrants in the United States illegally, 67% of independents are on board there.

As far as what they don't like, though - making health insurance available to those in the country illegally, decriminalizing those border crossings, reparations for slavery and a universal basic income of $1,000 a month per person to combat automation. All those are very unpopular, and all those are things that have gotten lots of attention on the Democratic campaign trail.

SHAPIRO: Well, according to this poll, which party seems to be more in line with what independents want - Democrats or Republicans?

MONTANARO: Well, it's not at all clear because there are lots of things that Democrats really - that independents like about Democrats and lots of things they don't like about what Democrats are forward, but also things they don't like that Republicans would want to do. Take, for example, wanting to repeal¹¹ Obamacare. Independents not in support of that. They think that's a bad idea to repeal it. And 55% of independents want a ban on assault-style weapons. That's a position unpopular with most Republicans. A majority of independents also support a $15 federal minimum wage, something just a quarter of Republicans say they can get behind.

SHAPIRO: Sounds like the country is still very divided. Briefly¹², any areas of agreement?

MONTANARO: When you look at whether there should be background checks, almost 90% of people are in favor of background checks - for stricter background checks for gun purchases.

SHAPIRO: NPR's Domenico Montanaro, thank you very much.

MONTANARO: You're so welcome.

(SOUNDBITE OF POLA AND BRYSON'S "DUSK")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 mediocre   

adj.平常的，普通的

参考例句：

• The student tried hard,but his work is mediocre. 该生学习刻苦，但学业平庸。
• Only lazybones and mediocre persons could hanker after the days of messing together.只有懒汉庸才才会留恋那大锅饭的年代。

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

8 plummets   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As a result, blood sugar plummets, sometimes even going below the baseline. 结果，血糖浓度迅速掉落，有时甚至落于基线之下。 来自互联网
• State and local governments could continue to back as tax revenue plummets. 由于税收的直线下降，州和地方政府可能继续削减支出。 来自互联网

9 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

10 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

11 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

12 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。