Democrats are three times more likely than Republicans to have a favorable opinion of John McCain
There’s one way for a Republican senator to earn the approval of Democrats – and the rancor of Republicans – and that’s to criticize President Donald Trump. Senators Jeff Flake, Bob Corker and John McCain all get higher favorable ratings from Democrats than from Republicans in the latest Economist/YouGov Poll.
Criticizing a President who has an 80% approval rating with members of his own party clearly won’t endear even a former GOP presidential nominee to his partisans. McCain’s vote against an Obamacare repeal bill this summer doomed “skinny repeal,” and his opposition to later repeal proposals clearly hurt his standing with the President – and with Republicans. But it also endeared him to Democrats. Three times as many Democrats have a favorable view of McCain than have an unfavorable one. For Republicans, the proportions are reversed.
Fewer overall have opinions of Flake and Corker, but the unusual partisan divide also affects opinions of them. Independents are closely divided, but for all three more are negative than positive
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