title:  Trump Won This Typically Republican Demographic By Double Digits – Now They’re Turning On Him
text: Trump s popularity continues to slip and slide downhill, including with his base. Every segment of his base, even those that are traditionally Republican. One demographic hasn t voted for a Democrat since 2000, but that could change in 2020 as they find themselves increasingly dissatisfied. A new Gallup poll shows that the military community, which Trump won by 17 points last year, now disapproves of him 52 percent to 43 percent. That s a 9-point difference there.In other words, according to Gallup who conducted the poll that s a 16-point swing away from how they saw him during his first 100 days. Prior to April 29, Trump still had a 7-point advantage with the military. May could be an outlier, or it could be the harbinger of a trend that should scare the hell out of Republicans.Military members and their families tend to lean conservative (even though it s primarily the Republicans who toss them aside when they come back from war, saying,  We don t have enough money for the VA. Too bad, so sad ). They re less diverse than the general population, and are less educated than the general public. They also tend to be more religious and more culturally conservative than civilians, so in short, their makeup looks very Republican.That makes this poll surprising and possibly damaging for the GOP, particularly with a contentious midterm coming up next year and a standard-bearer that can t crawl out of the hole of record disapproval in which he finds himself. He s certainly not winning anyone over with his proposal to close more military bases, which military communities tend to depend on for their own livelihood. The Russia scandal and his missteps, like firing James Comey and antagonizing our intelligence services, probably aren t helping either.This falling approval among the military community can present an opportunity for Democrats to slide in if they find solid ways to reach them. The truth is that they still have a significant disadvantage there, but disapproval for a president can translate to disapproval for his party. That, in turn, can lead to some conservatives deciding to vote Democratic.If this trend continues among the military community, then the GOP will probably find itself in some trouble. They rely on this part of their base. Now that part of their base is weakening.Featured image by Win McNamee via Getty Images