Fewer Republicans & Democrats Want Race in Politics: Pew Research

Both American parties also prioritize poverty and COVID less than in 2021.

QUICK FACTS:

• Fewer Republicans and Democrats think racial issues, poverty, and Covid-19 should be top policy priorities compared to a year ago, Forbes reports.
• The data comes from a study that surveyed 5,128 U.S. adults from Jan 10-17 published Wednesday by the Pew Research Center.
• The share of Americans who think race should be a top priority for the president and Congress fell from 49% in January 2021 to 37% last month.
• The proportion of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who want race in politics dropped from 72% to 53%.
• And the rate among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents over the same time period fell from 24% to 14%.
• 44% of Americans said last month that dealing with poverty should be a top policy priority, a drop from 53% a year earlier, Forbes notes.
• Support for poverty in politics dropped from 68% to 58% among Democrats, 35% to 25% among Republicans.
• Pew writes regarding the COVID issue, “At a time when Americans rate several issues as lower priorities than they did a year ago, the decline in the share citing the pandemic has been particularly steep: 60% now view dealing with the coronavirus as a top policy priority, down from 78% last year.”

Fewer Americans Now Want To Prioritize Racial Issues And Poverty Than In 2021, Study Finds https://t.co/EJdePkyDTS pic.twitter.com/ydJCishzKW

— Forbes (@Forbes) February 16, 2022

WHAT AMERICANS REALLY CARE ABOUT:

• 71% of Americans identified strengthening the economy as their top concern.
• That number beat healthcare costs by a 10-point margin, Forbes reports.
• It also beat dealing with Covid-19 by an 11-point margin.

BACKGROUND:

• A partisan gap opened on the issue of improving the political system, Forbes highlights.
• 61% of Democrats and 40% of Republicans listed fixing it as a priority.
• That signifies a change from Jan 2021, when 64% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans prioritized the issue.
• But the widest partisan differences were seen on topics like climate change (a priority for 65% of Democrats and 11% of Republicans), racial issues (53% of Democrats and 14% of Republicans), and strengthening the military (22% of Democrats and 55% of Republicans).