Majorities of Americans support President Biden’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package and a pending bill that would spend nearly $2 trillion on social programs and climate initiatives. Yet despite the backing for these measures, Biden’s approval rating has ticked down to a new low, driven largely by more negative views […] Read more »
Consumer Sentiment: Preliminary Results for November
Consumer sentiment fell in early November to its lowest level in a decade due to an escalating inflation rate and the growing belief among consumers that no effective policies have yet been developed to reduce the damage from surging inflation. One-in-four consumers cited inflationary reductions in their living standards in […] Read more »
It’s Competence, Not “Wokeness” That’s Hurting Democrats
In the wake of last week’s defeat of Democratic candidates across the country, an elite consensus has formed that blames Democrats’ failures at the ballot box on their “wokeness.” In attempting to address structural racial injustice, they argue, Democrats have become as inflexible and judgmental as those they are fighting […] Read more »
Americans Are Flush With Cash and Jobs. They Also Think the Economy Is Awful.
Americans are, by many measures, in a better financial position than they have been in many years. They also believe the economy is in terrible shape. This is the great contradiction that underlies President Biden’s poor approval ratings, recent Republican victories in state elections and the touch-and-go negotiations over the […] Read more »
Virginia and New Jersey Elections in National Context
Elections for state offices reflect state-specific issues, the personalities and backstories of the candidates running for office, and the dynamics of the campaigns. State elections can also reflect trends and circumstances occurring at the national level. This last point is important, given the tendency of many observers to use the […] Read more »
COVID-19 fading as dominant political issue as Americans focus on inflation, economy
Americans are increasingly turning away from the coronavirus and focusing their attention elsewhere, especially toward rising consumer prices and other economic areas where Democrats are less trusted, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, a shift that could favor Republicans in next year’s midterm elections. While COVID-19 continues to claim more than 1,000 lives […] Read more »