Poll: Voters in battleground states want Dems to check Trump

A sizable majority of voters in a group of red and battleground states wants Senate Democrats to act as a brake on Donald Trump's agenda as president, according to a new poll conducted for the liberal group Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Forty percent of those who voted for Trump say they want the minority party to check the new president's power, even if that means opposing or blocking some of his policy proposals, the poll finds.

There was widespread support for cleaning up Washington corruption, one of Trump's campaign themes, along with considerable doubts that the incoming president was doing enough to avoid potential conflicts of interest involving his private business dealings.

There was slight opposition to slashing environmental regulations on business. Yet voters across the map registered vehement disapproval of health-care cuts floated by Trump's Cabinet designees and Republican allies in Congress such as House Speaker Paul Ryan.

"This election was not fought on undermining entitlements and other issues of a far-right agenda," Neera Tanden, executive director of the Center for American Progress, said in a conference call Wednesday with reporters. "Senate Democrats are in a strong position."

To be sure, respondents were questioned with language designed by Democratic polling firm Hart Research to portray liberal positions in a mostly favorable light. The answers suggested that health care could be a particular area of vulnerability for Trump and the GOP congressional majorities.

Asked whether they would "replace Medicare with private insurance for seniors that costs two thousand dollars more per year on average," 77 percent said no. Asked whether they would "cut funding for Medicaid, which states use to provide health coverage for low-income individuals and for nursing home care for seniors and the disabled," 72 percent said no.

Proposed privatization of Medicare and Social Security benefits typically draws high opposition across the partisan spectrum in polling. Trump said in the campaign he did not want to cut the benefits.

Overall in the 14 states, Trump enjoyed a narrow 45 percent-to-43 percent personal favorable rating. Democratic senators were rated positively, 47 percent to 28 percent. By 44 percent to 24 percent, more respondents labeled themselves conservative as opposed to liberal.

CAP's poll also revealed strong concerns about how the billionaire businessman will perform as president even among his backers.

While 61 percent of those who voted for Donald Trump say they supported him strongly, a substantial minority - 37 percent - say they supported him with mixed feelings. Among all voters in the 14 states, only 39 percent say they have confidence that Donald Trump will do a good job as president. Nearly as many—37 percent—say they doubt that Trump will do a good job, while another 23 percent say they feel somewhere in between.

Yet 49 percent of voters overall approve of the way he has handled the transition.

The poll surveyed 1,206 voters in 14 states where Democrats will be defending Senate seats in midterm elections next year. They included nine states Trump carried, some of them traditional blue states that he flipped, and the others Republican stalwarts: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia.

CAP's poll covered four states that voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton: New Jersey, Maine, Minnesota and Virginia.