Terry Jones of Issues and Insights reports interesting poll results for today’s presidential race.
As most know, reading the tea leaves about who will win an election by looking only at political preference polls can be difficult. Polls jump around, and people often don’t want others to know who they will vote for. But there is a way around that: Ask people how they feel about their own lives. The TIPP Tracking Poll did just that, asking voters how they’re doing under the Biden-Harris administration. Not well, it turns out.
In a national online survey taken from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, the TIPP Tracking Poll asked a series of four questions to 1,603 registered voters, with a margin of error of +/-2.5 percentage points. The responses suggest a majority of Americans harbor deep disappointments over the path the nation has traveled since the outbreak of COVID.
But it’s a split majority: Registered Democrats continue to express positive feelings about both the Biden-Harris administration and the general direction of the country. Republicans and independent/third-party voters remain mostly dissatisfied.
The first question asked simply: “Are you better off now compared to your situation pre-COVID?”
A majority of 54% said “no,” while 36% answered “yes.” Another 10% responded “not sure.”But a closer look reveals two very different views, based on party affiliation. Among Democrats, 56% said they were better off now than before COVID, while only 34% felt they were worse off, with 10% not sure.
They inhabit a different mental universe than those in the other two major political groupings. For Republicans, 69% said they were worse off, versus 23% saying they were better off and 8% not sure. Independents weren’t far behind at 62% “worse,” 27% “better” and 11% unsure.
With apologies to Charles Dickens, it’s “A Tale Of Two Americas.”
Digging further in, TIPP asked voters: “In general, how SATISFIED are you with the direction the country is going in at this time?”
Once again, overall the numbers are dismal, with just 34% saying they were either “very satisfied” (12%) or “somewhat satisfied” (22%). But a hefty 63% reported being either “not very” satisfied (24%) or “not at all” satisfied (38%).