On the eve of the midterm elections last fall, President Biden delivered a speech in which he argued that the central issue for 2022 was the threat to our democracy. Many pundits, and even some high-profile Democrats, criticized Biden’s messaging. After all, poll after poll showed that the economy and […] Read more »
A year of focus groups tells me this: Americans are traumatized
“Trainwreck,” “a mess,” “divided” — when I kick off every focus group to use a word to describe how the country is going, the words are always negative. “Tell me why no positive words?” I ask, even though after 25 years of moderating focus groups — and dozens of nights […] Read more »
Focus Group Report: Heading into Midterms, Democrats Were Motivated by Republican Attacks on Rights and Democracy
On October 20, 2022, GBAO conducted three focus groups online with Democratic and Independent voters who varied across demographics—age, education, and race. Key takeaways• Democrats are acutely worried about abortion, extremist Republicans, and political division.• Some see economic improvements, while others feel pessimistic.• Discussing the “middle class” further reveals pessimism […] Read more »
These 17 Swing Voters Have a Very Clear Message for Donald Trump
When Donald Trump was president, you rarely heard Trump voters blame him when anything went wrong; it was the Democrats’ fault, usually, or the deep state or Robert Mueller or the F.B.I. or was due to any number of conspiracy theories. Which is why it was striking, during our focus […] Read more »
Independent voters don’t want mini-Trumps, are bored by Biden
A critical group of swing voters was asked to give a brief, one-word description of the emotions they feel upon seeing President Biden. The answers were bleak: “Indifferent … mixed to indifferent … bored … ambivalent … frustrated … flabbergasted … lost.” Then the same voters, who had cast ballots […] Read more »
Focus group: Trump voters on the FBI search, 2020 and the midterms
To better understand the pulse of Republican politics at the moment, we spoke with a group of voters who would support former President Donald Trump if he ran again in 2024. CBS News The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. […] Read more »