Polls are Donald Trump's favorite thing to talk about, and Bloomberg News has given him a fresh arrow in his quiver after the real estate magnate was roundly condemned in both parties and around the world for his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S.
The Bloomberg lede:
The pollsters asked if voters agreed with Trump on a "temporary ban on all Muslims who are citizens of foreign countries." That's Trump's clarified view. His initial call for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" did not give an exception for American citizens.
The splits: Among all likely voters, 37 percent were in favor, and 50 percent opposed. GOP primary voters were in favor, 65-22. Democratic primary voters were opposed, 75-18.
In the Republican primary, the nationwide poll found Trump carries a 65 percent favorability rating, with 33 percent rating him unfavorably. Primary rivals Ted Cruz (61/26) and Marco Rubio (64/22) did not have as many GOP'ers opposed.
But among all voters, Trump has a whopping 64 percent unfavorable score, with just 33 percent of voters rating him favorably. That considerably trails Barack Obama (51/47) and Hillary Clinton (45/52). Among all voters, Cruz scores 31/47 and Rubio carries a 36/42 favorable/unfavorable score.
A new CBS/New York Times survey out this morning -- largely taken before the Muslim ban -- shows Trump maintaining a commanding national lead in the GOP primary, and a lot of people scared of a Trump or Clinton administration. From the Times:
Over all, 24 percent of voters expressed concern and 40 percent fear about what Mr. Trump would do if elected president, whereas 23 percent said they are concerned and 34 percent scared about the possibility of a Clinton presidency. Not surprisingly, voters were sharply divided along partisan lines.
He's also holding strong in South Carolina, sayeth the Winthrop University poll. Note the lack of home-state love for Lindsey Graham:
• U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, 16%
• Neurosurgeon Ben Carson, 14%
• U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, 11%
• Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, 9%
• Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, 2%
• U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, 2%
• Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, 2%
• N.J. Governor Chris Christie, 1%
• Ohio Governor John Kasich, 1%
• U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, 1%.
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Trump announced this morning that he will cancel a scheduled trip to Israel. Or postpone until he's the president, of course.
This reversal comes after yesterday's news (via the U.K. Independent):
The Israeli Prime Minister released a statement saying he will still meet with the Republican Presidential candidate for previously scheduled talks later this month but does not "endorse his views".
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Set your government shutdown clock forward a couple days into next week.
U.S. House leaders said the chamber will vote Friday to keep the government open on its present course until Dec. 16 while negotiators continue to work behind the scenes on a year-long spending bill. After this fall's budget deal, the dollar amounts aren't so much in dispute as "policy riders" on Syrian refugees and other issues.
Another thing to watch: whether the bill meddles in the Georgia-Alabama-Florida water wars.
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The Teamsters Union, American Postal Workers Union and Jobs For Justice are trying to pressure Atlanta-based UPS to drop out of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-funded think tank that produces conservative model legislation for states. Much of that legislation is designed to weaken unions.
The groups plan to deliver 50,000 petitions to UPS offices in Atlanta and Washington today to encourage the delivery giant to follow companies like Coca-Cola and dump ALEC.
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