New Poll Delivers Some Alarming News For Dems

A new poll suggests that voters trust Republicans to manage their economy. This is according to a poll released ahead of the midterm elections this year.

Roughly 52% of voters stated that they trust Republicans to manage the economy, compared to 38% for Dems, while only 1% of respondents said they agreed with the proposals of both parties to manage it, according to a poll conducted by the Times and Siena College, which measured the relative strength of both parties in advance of the election scheduled on Nov. 8. The economy has been the most important issue to voters heading into the polls; in a July edition of the same NYT/Siena poll, 20% called it the “most important problem facing the country today,” while roughly 76% said that it would be “extremely important” to them as they vote.

Democrats have tried to make their campaign narrative focussed on social issues, such as abortion after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court and gun regulations after mass shootings in the country this summer.

However, efforts to place social issues at the forefront of voters’ minds do not appear to be working. The NYT/Sienna poll revealed that voters consider economic issues more important to their voting decision than social issues, by an 18-point margin.

These polls are coming at a time when the Biden administration is facing bad economic news before November’s election. The White House recently released an economic blueprint listing its various accomplishments, with President Joe Biden holding a series of events to highlight the “Inflation Reduction Act,” a massive spending package that his administration had proposed to the Democratic-controlled Congress.

The Consumer Price Index, an aggregate measure of inflation, increased by 0.1% from July to August, though tempered by reductions in the price of gasoline even as food costs rose, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The news poorly affected stock markets over the week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling by 1,600 points beginning Monday, closing for the week at 30,841.05 points.

There was some good news for Dems, who currently control Congress and the White House. Between July and September, the number of voters who believe the country is “heading on the right track” increased modestly, from 27% to 50% for Democrats, and 9% to 27% for independents; however, 53% expressed disapproval of Biden’s performance in office.

The poll was conducted among 1,399 registered voters in the United States from Sept. 6-14, 2022. Its margin of sampling error was +/– 3.6 percentage points.

The White House and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had not responded to a request for comment from us.