About Half in U.S. Worry About Their Money’s Safety in Banks

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Amid turbulence in the U.S. banking system, nearly half of Americans are anxious about the safety of the money they have in accounts at banks or other financial institutions. A total of 48% of U.S. adults say they are concerned about their money, including 19% who are “very” and 29% who are “moderately” worried. At the same time, 30% are “not too worried” and 20% are “not worried at all.” …

The latest readings are similar to those in 2008. In September of that year, shortly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which remains the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history, 45% of U.S. adults said they were very or moderately worried about the safety of their money. CONTINUED

Megan Brenan, Gallup

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How AI will transform the 2024 elections

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Recent news that the Republican National Committee (RNC) has used an AI-generated video to criticize Joe Biden shows how likely AI is to transform our upcoming elections. Advances in digital technology provide new and faster tools for political messaging and could have a profound impact on how voters, politicians, and reporters see the candidates and the campaign. We are no longer talking about photoshopping small tweaks to how a person looks or putting someone’s head on another individual’s body, but rather moving to an era where wholesale digital creation and dissemination are going to take place. Through templates that are easy and inexpensive to use, we are going to face a Wild West of campaign claims and counter-claims, with limited ability to distinguish fake from real material and uncertainty regarding how these appeals will affect the election. CONTINUED

Darrell M. West, Brookings Institution

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Fox’s obsession with Biden’s polling misses the point

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“Biden’s approval rating hits all-time low,” Fox declared last week. Before that, its headlines read: “President Biden near record low approval among key groups.” “Biden approval sinks once again.” “Biden approval ratings remain well underwater, far below most recent presidents.” “Biden plagued by negative approval ratings ahead of second State of the Union speech.” Fox, clearly, wants its audience to know that Biden’s approval ratings are not so great. …

The headlines, in short, are right-wing hopium. And Fox News viewers love that stuff. They click on it.

How much reality is there in that hopium though? Is Biden’s reelection bid really doomed? Should Republicans rejoice and Democrats cower? CONTINUED

Noah Berlatsky, Public Notice

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Can Biden Win Over the ‘Meh’ Voters Again in 2024?

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For the first time in memory, low approval ratings of a sitting president didn’t cause a disaster for his party in a midterm election. Many Democratic candidates in 2022 succeeded in winning over voters who “somewhat” disapproved of Biden — a group I dubbed last fall as the ‘meh’ voters. Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden both came into their first midterm election with similar job approval ratings (44%approve to 55% disapprove). But, according to exit polls, among those who “somewhat” disapproved of Biden, 49% voted for the Democrat and 45% voted for the Republican. In 2018, those “somewhat” disapprovers of Trump voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic candidate (63% to 34%).

Today, Biden’s job approval ratings aren’t any stronger than they were in 2022. That leads us to wonder if these ‘meh’ voters will again be critical to Democrats’ success in 2024. And, if so, is a president’s job approval rating — once considered a critical metric in assessing his reelection chances — no longer pertinent? CONTINUED

Amy Walter, Cook Political Report with Amy Walter

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How polls can mislead about polarization

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By definition, a political pollster is not a “normal” or “average” person. Political pollsters, like most political creatures, are usually deeply embedded in the divisive partisan atmosphere. We take in all the information, and then we try to design questions to probe the “normal” people about this atmosphere, of which they may only be tangentially aware.

Public polls have been asking more questions about so-called culture-war issues—particularly as red state and local governments pass legislation on abortion, transgender medical care, and what children learn about race and gender. I’m not sure we’re learning much from some of these questions, though, because the questions are most often framed in the language of the debate among political creatures rather than what “normal” people experience. CONTINUED

Natalie Jackson, National Journal

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Gov’t Still No. 1, but Guns, Crime Up as Top U.S. Problem

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More Americans continue to name government leadership than any other issue as the most important problem facing the country, with various aspects of U.S. leadership mentioned by 18% of adults in April. The economy in general ranks second, at 14%, while all other problems are cited by less than 10%. These include the high cost of living or inflation (9%), immigration (8%) and guns or gun control (7%). …

Democrats’ heightened concern about gun violence may at least partly explain the slight decline in this party group’s overall satisfaction with the direction of the country in April, slipping five points since March to 29%. This is the lowest rate of Democratic satisfaction with the nation’s direction since last summer. CONTINUED

Lydia Saad, Gallup

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