Political opposites are closing 2025 as they did 2024: on each side of America’s Donald Trump divide. But CNN’s “All Over the Map” survey did provide several interesting takeaways. Some may be instructive about the midterm election climate, at least at this beginning stage.
One big thing dominates Tonya Rincon’s holiday wish list, and she is willing to wait nearly a year to get it: “Democrats retake the House.”
Billy Pierce has a very different end-of-the-year ask: “More Republican control.”
Political opposites, they are closing 2025 as they did 2024: on each side of America’s Donald Trump divide.
Pierce, a retiree and part-time consultant in South Carolina, rated Trump’s first year back in the White House an 8 out of 10. Rincon, a Michigander who retired last year from the Ford Motor Company, graded the president a 1. (Zero was not an option.)
“Better,” is how Pierce rated his standard of living since Trump returned to the presidency 11 months ago. “Slightly worse,” Rincon answered.
Both are voters participating in ourAll Over the Mapproject. We began the project 28 months ago with a handful of voters in Iowa and now keep in touch, so far, with roughly 150 voters spread across 17 states.
Polarization has been a constant since Trump took center stage in American politics, so it was no surprise that our end-of-the-year survey showed the fierce divide over the president persists. In some ways, that divide has seemed to widen since his return to office.
“I think President Trump is doing an amazing job,” said Pam Aita, a Pennsylvania retiree who lives in bellwether Northampton County.
“Narcissistic sociopath,” was the quite different assessment of Trump from Darrell Ann Murphy, a retiree who regularly plays mahjong with Aita despite their vastly different views on the president and his performance.
“He is the worst at everything,” said Zoila Sanchez, a Las Vegas real estate agent who considers herself a Reagan Republican and cannot stomach Trump.
“He is working very hard to bring jobs back to the country,” said Joseph Knowles, a Michigan autoworker.
“He is not focused on America — he is focused on himself,” said Claudio Rodriguez, a community organizer and food bank worker in Arizona. “So much for ‘America First.’”
Beyond the reflexive Trump divide, though, the survey did provide several interesting takeaways. Some may be instructive about the midterm election climate, at least at this beginning stage.
Others offer insight as we inch toward a giant and unpredictable transition: The Republican Party’s search for a new leader after three consecutive presidential elections with Trump atop the ticket.
There is also the Democrats’ identity crisis, which remains an issue, though it was masked somewhat by the anti-Trump sentiment that powered Democrats to a string of important 2025 election victories.
Some highlights from the survey are below.
Cost of living was a bipartisan concern. Democrats in our voter survey said Trump broke a promise to bring costs down quickly; Republicans tended to be more patient, even as most reported their costs are at least somewhat higher in 2025 than 2024.
“It’s worse,” said Kim Cavaliere, an independent who lives in Georgia. “So I am supposed to be excited because egg prices went down.”
Rincon was one of many voters who planned to spend the same or less this holiday season, she said, “since groceries and utilities are higher.”
Manhattan nurse Lal Lopez, a liberal Democrat, said she has taken on a third job to help pay the bills.
Chantá Villano-Willis, a Georgia Democrat turned independent, said 2025 was a year of high prices for goods and services. “I am not happy about my rise in health insurance premiums,” she added.
“Small businesses are hurting,” said Catherine Long, a Democrat and retiree in Pennsylvania. “Restaurant prices are skyrocketing.”
Aita was among the Trump voters urging patience.
“You can’t flip the standard of living in 11 months,” she said.
Chris Mudd, an Iowa Trump voter, saw his solar energy business take a hit as Biden-eragreen energy incentivesexpired.
“Losing tax credits has had a big negative impact on our business, but I trust things will improve,” Mudd said. “The cost of energy is still too high.”
Devin McIver, a heavy equipment operator and Trump voter in New Hampshire, took a proactive approach to managing the big 2025 economic changes.
“I’m still able to get the things I need at affordable prices,” he said. “However, I am not buying out of Canada due to tariffs. Or any other place with high tariffs.”
The Democratic voters we surveyed were unanimous in their outrage over the Trump administration’s deportation tactics.
“It is a stain on our country,” said Carey Fulks Jr., an Atlanta Democrat.
“Way too aggressive and inhumane,” said Angela Lang, a community organizer in Milwaukee.
“There is no grace,” said Rodriguez, the Harris voter in Tucson.
“There is no transparency concerning the background of those picked up,” said Lawrence Malinconico, a Pennsylvania college professor and fierce Trump critic.
Several of the Trump voters also voiced concerns the White House was going too far, even as they said tougher enforcement was long overdue.
Max Scheske is a member of the University of Michigan College Republicans but not a Trump fan.
“He closed the border, which is good,” Scheske said. “But there is zero reason to be making these provocative deportation videos.”
The promise of tougher immigration enforcement was one of the reasons Iowa’s Mudd was an early Trump supporter back in 2015.
“Hard to watch, to be honest,” he said of the administration’s aggressive deportation tactics. “But enforcing the laws that have not been enforced is a shock to the system. Too many (administrations) looked the other way for too long.”
This is both an obvious and critical dynamic. Progressive energy powered the Democratic Party’s impressive 2025 election wins and is essential for the party now that the consequential 2026 midterms are approaching.
Trump “has complete contempt for democracy as well as the international laws of war,” said Anna St. Clair, a Manhattan public relations worker.
“The president is incompetent, racist, misogynist and money-hungry,” said Fulks, the Atlanta voter.
Pat Levin, a 95-year-old Pennsylvania Democrat, hopes 2026 opposition to Trump includes flipping her congressional district blue and ending the GOP House majority.
“Under his tyranny, higher education has become politicized,” said Levin. “He is leading us into moral bankruptcy.”
This jumped out reading the survey responses. Voters who love Trump and voters who loathe him share a distrust and disaffection toward the government more generally.
Pennsylvania Trump voter Aita’s recommendation: “Term limits for Congress and the Supreme Court.”
“Term limits and age limits for Congress,” said Rodriguez, the Arizona progressive.
“Term limits,” said New Hampshire Trump backer McIver, when asked what would improve America’s political discourse.
“Limited tenure for elected officials and Supreme Court justices,” said Brian McMutuary, a restaurant manager in Wisconsin.
Cavaliere, the Georgia independent, offered this suggestion: “That it is mandatory that the president be between the ages of 40-65 and you have to have military experience.”
And this desire came from Wahbeh Nuseibeh, a Democratic-leaning voter in the Detroit suburbs: “New leadership across the board.”
Like the calls for reforms, the desire for less animosity in politics was a bipartisan appeal.
“Less personal shots toward one another,” was an ask from Knowles, the auto worker and Trump voter in Michigan.
Shanen Ebersole, a cattle farmer and Trump supporter in Iowa, said the president should do more to lower the temperature. “I wish he would be a little more encouraging for all of us to get along together,” she said.
Joan London is an attorney in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and an independent now because she felt she could not remain in the Republican Party led by Trump. Her wish is consistent.
“We need a viable center back in our politics,” London said. “Most of the electorate is not extreme.”