Our most recent book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. It includes a chapter on congressional and state elections. In 2024, the book explains, the Democrats' problems involved reality, not just messaging. Two years later, Republicans own the reality problems, including the Iran quagmire and the resulting economic pain.
As measles cases and deaths mount from multiple outbreaks across the United States, a four-day Reuters/Ipsos poll completed yesterday shows declining trust in the safety of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine for children (76%, down from 84% in 2020). The deteriorating trust was most apparent among Republicans.
But just 19% of all 1,143 adult respondents said they approve of President Donald Trump's handling of the measles outbreaks, while 52% disapprove, and the rest said they didn’t have an opinion or didn’t answer the question.
Registered voters in the poll chose Democrats over Republicans by 45% to 25% when asked which party has a better approach to stopping infectious diseases such as measles. About 31% of voters said they were very worried about measles outbreaks, compared with 58% who said the same about their cost of living.
Measles was declared eradicated in the United States in 2000, but declining vaccination rates have enabled the virus to re-emerge in recent years. As of September 11, the country had logged 3,294 cases—a 35-year high—compared with 2,289 cases in all of 2025. Nearly 700 of those cases (693) have been reported in Pennsylvania, as the state experiences its worst outbreak in 35 years.
In addition, the Pennsylvania Department of Health today confirmed another measles-related death, in addition to one reported over the weekend and two infants reported previously, bringing the state’s 2026 measles-related death tally to four. (See related CIDRAP News story.) No deaths have been reported in other states so far this year.
Two doses of the MMR vaccine confer 97% lifetime protection, but in 2025, average US vaccination uptake among kindergarteners declined to 92.5%, below the 95% experts say is needed for herd immunity, which can protect people in the community who, for health reasons, can’t get the vaccine.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed two more measles-associated deaths after local coroners reported these individuals died from complications associated with measles. That's four total measles-associated deaths in our Commonwealth and the first Pennsylvania…
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) September 15, 2026
