Poll: Anger at Washington fuels Trump's rise

Just three in 10 Americans feel their views are represented by their government officials in Washington, according to the results of a new CNN/ORC poll released Monday.

That share goes down to just 16 percent among all Republicans (15 percent of Republican registered voters), while 50 percent of Democrats (51 percent of Democratic registered voters) feel that they are represented in the nation’s capital. Among independents, just 27 percent feel well-represented.


The latest results come as multibillionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump, crafting a campaign as a political outsider bent on fixing the country with his business acumen, has surged in the polls among Republican voters in early primary states.

Trump’s month-old campaign has already taken heat for remarks in which he called immigrants from Mexico and elsewhere “rapists” and “killers,” and for calling Arizona Sen. John McCain “a war hero because he was captured” during an event in Iowa earlier this month. Trump later clarified that he believes McCain, a prisoner of war for five years of the North Vietnamese, is a hero.

And Trump’s poll numbers have continued to climb: In the latest NBC News/Marist poll released Sunday, Trump took the lead in New Hampshire and finished a close second to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in Iowa.

The most important issue for registered voters and all Americans polled by CNN/ORC is, far and away, the economy. A plurality of 44 percent of voters put the economy at the top of their list for 2016, followed by health care (20 percent) and terrorism (12 percent).

Despite the surge of support for Trump, who has made immigration one of his top campaign issues to this point, just 11 percent of registered Republicans called the issue extremely important in making their decision for the next president. Only 14 percent of self-identified conservatives put immigration at the top of their list. All subgroups picked the economy as the area of greatest concern.

Among registered voters, the most important character traits for the next president are honesty and trustworthiness. More than half (58 percent) said honesty and trustworthiness are extremely important, while just 12 percent said it would be extremely important for the next president to share their religious values.

The CNN/ORC poll was conducted July 22-25, surveying 1,017 adults nationwide, including 898 registered voters, via landlines and cellphones. The overall margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 3 percentage points. Among registered voters, it is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.