“First survey in The Wall Street Journal’s new polling effort shows Republicans in strong position.”
QUICK FACTS:
- American voters are pessimistic about the economy and lack confidence in Biden’s leadership and his party on the issues that concern them most, a new Wall Street Journal (WSJ) poll finds.
- “The survey reveals a set of danger signs for the Democratic Party as it prepares to defend narrow majorities in the House and Senate. Voters by a large margin see economic and fiscal issues, including inflation, as the top priorities for Washington, and they view the GOP as better able to handle them,” reports WSJ.
- The WSJ poll is significant because it draws on a new, bipartisan polling team that brings together the firms of Democrat John Anzalone, the lead pollster for Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, and Republican Tony Fabrizio, the lead pollster for former President Donald Trump’s two campaigns.
KEY POLL TAKEAWAYS:
- More voters say they would back a Republican than a Democrat for Congress, 44% to 41%, if the election were held today, according to the WSJ poll.
- Only 41% approve of Biden’s job performance, while 57% disapprove, “suggesting that the president’s power to boost support for other Democrats, as of now, is limited.”
- 63% of voters said the country had gone off-track, just 27% saying the nation was on the right course.
- 61% said the economy was headed in the wrong direction.
- 46% expect the economy to get worse in the next year, while 30% expect it to get better.
- By a 29-point margin, more voters think inflation will get worse rather than better.
- More have negative expectations rather than positive ones for crime, by a 33-point margin; border security, by a 26-point margin; and the nation’s political divide, by 50 points.
- Voters said they believe Republicans have the better economic policy, 43% to 34%, and the GOP is viewed as better able to control inflation, secure the border, fix the immigration system and reduce crime, according to WSJ.
- Both Biden and Trump are viewed unfavorably by just over half of all voters, 43% or less seeing them in a positive light.
- However, 46% of voters say they would continue Biden’s policy course, while 48% say they’d rather return to Trump’s policies.
- 45% said they supported and an equal 45% opposed Biden’s “Build Back Better” bill.
ABOUT THE POLL:
- The poll was conducted by the firms ALG Research and Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, who surveyed 1,500 respondents, drawn from a list of known, registered voters, from Nov. 16-22, WSJ notes.
- Half the respondents were interviewed on their cellphones. One-quarter were reached by text on their cellphones and completed an internet survey. One-quarter of respondents were interviewed by landline phone.
- The margin of error for the full sample was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
WSJ REPORTS:
The new Journal survey adds to evidence that Democrats face steep challenges in holding their majorities in the House, where a net gain of five seats would flip control to the GOP, and in the evenly divided Senate, where Democrats have control because Vice President Kamala Harris can break tied votes. Already, more Democratic than Republican House members have chosen not to seek re-election in districts that will be hard for their party to hold, and the process of redrawing House district lines is likely, overall, to give an added advantage to Republicans.
