The two most important issues among registered voters heading into the midterm elections are the economy and inflation and clear majorities trust the GOP to handle them more than Democrats, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
According to the survey, 85% of respondents said the economy was either very important or one of the most important issues in determining their vote, while 79% said the same about inflation.
Republicans were more trusted to handle the economy by 54%, versus 37% who said they trusted Democrats more on the economy. Just 4% said they trusted neither party, and 2% said they trusted both.
Similarly, 54% of respondents said they trust the GOP more on inflation, versus 36% who said they trust Democrats more. Just 6% said neither, and 1% said both.
"It's not surprising that the economy, and inflation, are rated as so important by American voters," Robert Singh, a professor at the Department of Politics at Birkbeck, University of London, told Newsweek. "Midterm elections, and for that matter, presidential elections too, typically hinge on the state of the economy."
"Although there was much speculation that the abortion issue would be critical, this has largely been eclipsed by pocketbook issues, which is normal," Singh continued.
"And, as usually occurs, when the economy is faltering, the incumbent president's party gets the blame," he added. "The Republicans don't really have to do too much in terms of a program, other than to point to the spiraling debt, the profligacy of the Biden administration's spending, and the cost of living to hammer that message home."
The survey results may be yet another canary in the coal mine for Democrats, as they steel themselves for midterm elections that are widely expected to be a referendum on cost-of-living concerns.
According to poll tracker FiveThirtyEight, President Joe Biden's party is slightly favored to retain its majority in the Senate, but is projected to lose the House to the GOP.
Biden addressed the growing fears that the U.S. could enter an economic recession in an interview with CNN Tuesday.
"I don't think there will be a recession," the president said. "If it is, it'll be a very slight recession. That is, we'll move down slightly."
The poll was conducted Sept. 18-21 and surveyed 908 registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
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