WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has nearly 60 percent chances of winning a second term, showed an aggregate of various opinion polls released on Friday.

The surveys also indicated that the impeachment, which ended in his favour, gave Mr Trump an edge over his rival Democrats, who had initiated the proceedings.

A national opinion poll, conducted by Reuters/Ipsos, found that 43 percent of adult Americans support the Senate’s decision to acquit Mr Trump of the charge that he urged Ukraine to influence the 2020 presidential election.

Forty-one percent opposed the acquittal and 17 percent said they were undecided.

The survey, however, confirmed media speculations that the impeachment has further strengthened the president’s base among Republican voters. As many as 78 percent Republican voters said they believed Mr Trump was “innocent and wrongly accused.”

The poll also endorsed the impression that the impeachment has further deepened the political divide ahead of the presidential election, scheduled in November this year. Seventy-seven percent of Democrats said impeachment was “the right thing to do,” despite the acquittal, and 67 percent said their party was right to try to impeach Mr Trump “even if it ultimately weakens Democrats’ chances of winning the presidency in 2020.”

But the most encouraging for the incumbent is the aggregate of a week of opinion polls, showing that 59.99 percent American voters believe he will be reelected this year. This followed another survey which gave him a 49-percent job approval, his highest ever.

Among his rivals, Senator Bernie Sanders only has a 16.7 percent chance of winning the White House, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has an 11 percent chance.

Democrats have also been hurt by Iowa caucus where results were delayed for a day due to a technical fault and did not give a commanding majority to any candidate.

Pete Buttigieg and Mr Sanders were in a virtual tie. Senator Elizabeth Warren finished third. Former Vice President Joe Biden was fourth and Senator Amy Klobuchar was fifth.

But Democrats still have time as they go to the New Hampshire caucus next week to select a candidate who can evict Mr Trump from the White House in November.

A Monmouth University Poll out on Thursday showed Mr Sanders leading in New Hampshire, followed by Mr Buttigieg. Mr Biden is on the decline.

Democratic caucuses and opinion surveys, however, have little impact on Mr Trump who has already proved them wrong in 2016, when he won the election against all odds.

The president has already started his reelection campaign, using the failed impeachment attempt to display his invulnerability. On Thursday, he came to the national prayer breakfast in Washington with copies of newspapers proclaiming his victory.

He first picked up a USA Today and presented it before the audience. Then he picked up a copy of Thursday’s Washington Post, which had two words printed across the front page: “Trump acquitted.”

He then addressed the audience, taking “some not-so-subtle swipes” at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who shared the stage with him, as CNN noted.

“I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong, nor do I like people who say ‘I pray for you’ when you know that is not so,” he said.

Ms Pelosi, who led the impeachment proceedings, had publicly said that she and fellow Democrats were “prayerful” and that she prays for the president.

Mr Trump reminded Ms Pelosi that impeachment was a “terrible ordeal by some very dishonest and corrupt people.” She watched silently.

The national prayer breakfast is an annual event that brings politicians and faith leaders from across the world to pray together for peace and unity.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2020