Tennesseans' Support For Trump, GOP Wanes: Vanderbilt Poll

NASHVILLE, TN — Support for President Donald Trump and for other Republicans is shrinking, according to the latest edition of the Vanderbilt Poll, and far fewer Tennesseans think Trump will change Washington for the better than they did in the wake of his election.

The poll of 1,000 Tennessee registered voters conducted May 4 through May 15 showed that a majority — 52 percent — still have a favorable view of Trump, but that's down eight points from a poll taken in the immediate aftermath of his election. Even more dramatically, 41 percent believe the president can change Washington for the better, down 13 percent from the November poll. The percentage of Tennesseans who say Washington will change for the worse climbed from 20 percent to 31 percent. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

The state's leading Republicans saw similar measures of decreasing support. Gov. Bill Haslam's favorability rating is down seven points to 61 percent. The legislature — which has a Republican super-majority in both chambers — is viewed favorably by 53 percent, also down seven points from November. Sen. Bob Corker's rating dropped eight points to 52 percent and Sen. Lamar Alexander is now viewed favorably by 50 percent of Tennesseans, a 10-point drop.

The poll's leadership — John Geer and Josh Clinton — emphasized that the higher poll numbers for Trump in November may have been standard post-election enthusiasm. Nevertheless, a majority of Tennesseans — 53 percent, including 45 percent of self-identified Republicans — believe Trump does not care about people like them.

Meanwhile, one of the president's campaign promises — repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act — also has waning support in Tennessee, a state the president won overwhelmingly. Twenty-four percent of Tennesseans support repeal-and-replace, down 5 percent from November. In fact, that barely out-ticks support for government-backed single-payer health care, which is now supported by 22 percent of Tennesseans. A third of the state believes that the ACA should be maintained and just 19 percent believe it should be repealed without a replacement. A vast majority of the state of all political persuasions believe that Obamacare's most popular provisions — protecting those with pre-existing conditions, allowing children to stay on their parents' plan until age 26 and coverage for addiction treatment — should be maintained.

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