President Biden’s position with the Americans has improved slightly in the last two months, but remains in negative territory in most estimates of his performance in power, and Republicans have significant advantages over Democrats in key economic indicators that shape the intermediate year. , according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. The new poll, while better for the president and his party than it was two months ago, underscores the strong winds facing Democratic candidates ahead of the November vote. With an approval rating of 42 percent overall, Biden scores low on his handling of the economy and inflation, and Republicans are far more credible than Democrats in both. More than 9 in 10 Americans say they are worried, at least, about the rate of inflation, which has been high for 40 years in recent months. That includes 44 percent who categorize themselves as “upset.” Republicans are much more likely to call themselves upset by inflation than either independents or Democrats. At the same time, half of Americans (50 percent) say well-paid jobs are easy to find in their communities, a finding that reflects the nearly half-century-old unemployment rate and, anecdotes, the many signs of “hiring” business windows across the country. Less than 43 percent say these jobs are hard to find. Republicans, who generally rate the economy more negatively than Democrats, are, perhaps paradoxically, more likely to say that well-paid jobs are easy to find. As a positive indicator for Biden and his party, the ABC poll also shows that Democrats are moving in broad parity with Republicans over their intentions to vote in the House races in November, often seen as a key indicator of the size of the vote. possible changes in balance. of power. Republicans need a five-seat net gain to gain Democratic control of the House, which would allow them to block Biden’s agenda for the last half of his term. Today, 46 percent of registered voters say they would vote for Democrats in their constituency in Congress, compared with 45 percent who say they would vote Republican. By historical standards, Democrats would probably need a bigger advantage to avoid losing their majority. However, last fall, Republicans had a 10-point lead and in February were seven points ahead of the issue, known as the general vote. Almost all of the change since February is the result of a shift to Democrats among self-determined independents, a group that may be volatile in opinion polls. Democrats have a 12-point margin among voters aged 18 to 39. in February, these voters were divided almost equally between the two parties. Democrats have an edge over these younger voters, although they disapprove of Biden’s 13-point margin, 52% to 39%. The same pattern appears among independent registered voters. This group disapproves of Biden by 21 points, but shares 42-42 in the congressional vote. Despite the disappearance The gap between the two parties that party members say they will support in November, Republicans and independents with Republicans continue to say they are more confident they will vote in November than Democrats, with a difference of 10 percentage points in the last poll . Biden’s overall acceptance rating among voting adults is five points higher than in February, when 37 percent of Americans said they approved of his performance at work. His disapproval is now at 52 percent, slightly lower than at 55 percent in February. but this shift is within the margin of error. It has improved between men and women and shown improvement among independents and slight improvement among Democrats – but no gains among Republicans. However, there is a significant difference in the passions that people bring to their assessments of the president. Overall, 42 percent say they strongly disapprove of the performance of their work, while 21 percent say they strongly approve. Biden received higher scores for handling the war in Ukraine than two months ago – from 33 percent approval in February to 42 percent in the latest survey. But 47 percent disapprove, the same as in February. The improvement is mainly due to the reduction in the percentage of people who did not have an opinion two months ago. An even bigger change comes in the estimates for its handling in the coronavirus pandemic. Currently, 51 percent approve of its performance in this area, compared to 44 percent in February. In total, there has been a shift of 14 points in two months, moving Biden from negative to positive ground for the coronavirus, and the approval level is now similar to that of last September. As for the economy, however, there has been no real change, with 38% saying they approve of Biden’s handling compared to 37% two months ago. His job creation ratings are better, but still negative overall, with 41 percent approving and 46 percent disapproving. Biden’s worst scores are on the dominant issue of inflation, with 68% saying they disapprove compared to 28% giving him positive scores. The president is particularly weak on this issue among independents, who could hold the key to the result in many controversial races for Parliament and the Senate in November. Just over 1 in 5 independents, 22 percent, say they approve of Biden’s handling of rising prices. Every political party enjoys advantages in how the public sees its ability to address different issues and problems, but Republicans have the upper hand on some of the issues leading up to the election. As for the economy, 50 percent of Americans say they trust the Republican Party to do a better job. compared to 36 percent who say they trust the Democratic Party more. In terms of inflation, 50% say they trust GDP more compared to 31 percent who say Democrats. Republicans have a 12-point (47 percent to 35 percent) lead on crime, which many GOP candidates point out in their election campaigns. When it comes to immigration, the public is narrowly divided, with 43% saying they trust Republicans and 40% saying they trust Democrats. Republicans and Democrats are deeply polarized on the issue, while independents are evenly divided, with 39 percent saying they trust Democrats and 39 percent agreeing with the GOP. Education issues came to the forefront of the political debate last year and played a role in the victory of Virginia Glenn Yingin (R) last November. Democrats have defended various aspects of education, from teaching the history of racism to the role of parents in school curricula to closing schools and giving pandemic masks. Democrats have long had an edge over education, but that has been eroded in Post-ABC polls since last November and February, with Democrats only having a three-point lead in both cases. The new poll finds the Democrats with an advantage of eight points (47% vs. 39%). Although an improvement, the margin is still significantly less than the average Democrats had in 1990 polls. Democrats’s biggest strengths are in equal treatment of racial and ethnic groups (52 percent to 31 percent against Republicans) and in equal treatment of groups regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity (55 percent to 26 percent). a hundred). The latter have become political hotbeds, with Republican governors and Republican-led legislatures restricting gender debate among students and taking steps to ban trans students from participating in school sports. As the Supreme Court approaches a ruling on the Mississippi abortion restrictive bill, Americans say they trust Democrats more than Republicans, 47% to 37%. Democrats have regained a slight lead in identifying the parties since losing ground last year. The current poll finds 48 percent identifying with Democrats or Democrats, which is identical to last April but down from 43 percent in February. Meanwhile, 43 percent are identified as Republicans or Republicans on trend, down slightly from 46 percent in February, but still above the 40 percent mark a year ago. The Post-ABC poll was conducted April 24-28 on a random national sample of 1,004 adults, targeting mobile and landline phones. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for the total results and among the sample of 907 registered voters.
