The FINANCIAL — Voters, especially men, would rather have a beer with Donald Trump, but they’re evenly divided over which of the major presidential candidates they would invite home for dinner.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 45% of Likely U.S. Voters would prefer to have a beer with Trump over Clinton. Thirty-seven percent (37%) would rather have a beer with Clinton. Eighteen percent (18%) are undecided.
But while 42% of voters say they’d prefer to invite Trump into their home for dinner with them or their families, just as many (41%) say that of Clinton. Seventeen percent (17%) are not sure.
The gender gap is clear in both questions. Most men (53%) would rather have a beer with Trump, while women by a much narrower 42% to 38% margin would choose Clinton as their drinking partner. But women (21%) are also more likely than men (14%) to be undecided which beer buddy they prefer. By a 47% to 36 margin, men would pick Trump over Clinton for dinner at their home, while women would choose instead to eat at home with Clinton by a similar 45% to 37%.
After wrapping up the Democratic nomination last week, Clinton took a four-point lead over Trump – 42% to 38% – in Rasmussen Reports’ latest weekly White House Watch survey. We’ll update those numbers at 8:30 tomorrow morning.
Even lighthearted questions such as these elicit partisan divisions. While roughly 70% of Republicans would prefer Trump in both scenarios, even more Democrats say they’d prefer Clinton for a beer or a meal. But voters not affiliated with either major party would prefer Trump in both cases – for a beer 50% to 25% and for dinner 46% to 27%. Still, unaffiliateds are also the most likely to be undecided.
Those under 40 say they’d prefer to be with Clinton for both a beer and dinner. Older voters would rather have Trump as their guest in both cases.
Black voters heavily favor Clinton in both scenarios, while whites prefer Trump. Other minority voters are closely divided when it comes to dinner but would prefer to have a beer with Trump.
Ninety-one percent (91%) of voters who would prefer to have a beer with Clinton also would choose to bring her home for dinner. Among those who’d rather drink with Trump, 83% consider him the preferred dining guest.
Now that Clinton and Trump appear to have clinched their respective party nominations, we’ll release new favorability numbers on them later this week.
In early May, voters continued to be lukewarm about President Obama’s national security policies and expected more of the same if Clinton moves back into the White House next January. Trump, if elected, will definitely change things, voters said, but not necessarily for the best.
Generally speaking, when it comes to the economy and other major issues, voters expect Clinton to continue Obama’s policies and Trump to change them, for better or worse.
With Clinton poised to become the first woman nominated by a major U.S. political party to be president, most voters still say they’re willing to vote for a woman president and are slightly more confident that those close to them will do the same.
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