TRUMP’S POLLSTER: Reframe Election to ‘Capitalism
vs. Socialism’ for Victory Voters support free market capitalism by 7-point margin.
R licans: Fifty-eight percent of voters say the country is on the
wrong track, compared with 37% who say it is heading in the right direction. President Donald Trump’s three-way job rating stands at
48% approve and 48% disapprove. Within that overall approval figure, 33% both approve of Trump and his policies, while another 15% approve of his policies. The economy remains the dominant issue. Forty-six percent identify the economy as the most important issue, including 26% who specifically cite infla- tion and the cost of living. Among independents, that figure rises to 32%. While 54% of voters say the economy is not in reces-
sion, pessimism about the economic direction remains pronounced: 60% say the economy is getting worse. The numbers among independents are particularly important. On the generic congressional ballot, Republicans
receive 27% of the independent vote, compared with 48% for Democrats, while 26% remain undecided. Beneath the generic ballot is another finding that
deserves attention: the way voters are asked to choose between the parties can produce a dramatically different result.
CAPITALISM-SOCIALISM CONTRAST When voters are simply asked whether they prefer a Republican or Democrat candidate, Democrats hold a 48%-43% advantage.
BY JOHN MCLAUGHLIN AND JIM MCLAUGHLIN
epublicans are facing a difficult politi- cal environment as they seek to retain their majorities in the House and Senate. Our national poll of 1,000 likely general
election voters, conducted Aug. 18-24, has Democrats leading the generic congressional ballot, 48%-43%, with 9% undecided. The margin is Democrats plus 5. The survey has a
margin of error of plus or minus 3.1% at the 95% confi- dence level. Other measures point to the challenges facing Repub-
But when the choice is framed ideologically as a contest
between a Republican who supports free-market capi- talism and a Democrat who supports big-government socialism, the numbers reverse: Republican/Free-market capitalist: 47% Democrat/Big-government socialist: 40% Don’t know/refused: 13% That produces a 7-point Republican advantage, com-
pared with the Democrats’ 5-point advantage on the standard generic ballot — a 12-point net shift toward Republicans. That distinction matters because it suggests that vot-
ers who currently give Democrats an advantage on the generic ballot do not necessarily respond the same way when the election is presented as a choice between com- peting economic philosophies. The ideological framing produces particularly strong Republican results among several major voter groups. In August, the Republican/free-market capitalist ver-
sus Democrat/big-government socialist choice produced these results: Republicans: 92%-3% Conservatives: 81%-13% Trump 2024 voters: 85%-7% Men: 53%-37% Married voters: 53%-34% Voters 55 and older: 52%-33% White voters: 52%-34% Midwest: 49%-38% South: 48%-38% Among independents, the two approaches are essen-
tially tied, with the Republican/free-market capitalist choice at 37%, and the Democrat/big-government social- ist choice at 35%. Moderates move in the opposite direction, favoring
the Democrat/socialist framing 43%-34%. Democrats themselves overwhelmingly choose their
party’s side of the ideological description, 83%-9%. These results underscore an important distinction
between a voter’s response to a generic party label and that voter’s response to a description of the governing philosophy associated with each candidate. With little time left before voters begin casting ballots
in the midterms, now is the time for Republicans and Trump to take the offensive and start making this cam- paign about what it really is: a battle between capitalism versus socialism!
OCTOBER 2026 | NEWSMAX 47
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108
