Democrats’ political woes continue to mount heading into this year’s midterm elections in November, according to a new report on Tuesday.
A Politico report headlined, “Dems shaken by early ‘burbs poll,” notes that the party experienced a “scared-straight incident in a private House Democratic Caucus meeting the other day.”
“A poll was floated showing Gov. JB Pritzker facing suburban headwinds — even trailing Republican governor candidates Richard Irvin and Darren Bailey. Problem is there was no explanation about which suburb was polled,” the report noted.
“A source familiar with the data tells Playbook that the ‘burb wasn’t Cook County but conservative and swing-district areas where House Dems are trying to gain traction. That didn’t prevent the gulp some lawmakers had,” Politico added.
“The poll also addressed issues of concern — the top item being crime, surprising anyone. Others familiar with the poll say House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch was trying to light a fire under Democrats to get them on the campaign trail by showing that no contest can be taken for granted,” the report continued.
“He asked his caucus to keep the numbers private, which didn’t go so well. (Hey, they were scared.) A House Democrats spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment,” the report added.
Last week, a poll from the Wall Street Journal suggested President Biden and the Democratic Party have lost voters’ trust on important issues:
Despite Biden’s temporary bump in national approval after defending Ukraine’s sovereignty in his recent State of the Union address, 57% of voters said they disapproved of his job performance amid inflation and high gas prices, according to a Wall Street Journal polling released Friday. The poll, which surveyed 1,500 known registered voters, was conducted online and via phone between March 2 and March 7 and had a 2.5% margin of error.
Voters indicated they no longer trust the Democratic Party to handle COVID-19 and public education issues to the extent as in the WSJ’s previous November 2021 polling. While 41% still believe the Democratic Party is better equipped to handle the nation’s COVID-19 response, only 38% of voters believe the Democrats’ plan improves public education, the poll shows.
When asked about middle-class support, handling inflation, and the struggling American economy, voters gave Biden and the Democratic Party a failing grade. Over 50% of voters said the economy and inflation should immediately be the federal government’s top issue.
“More voters said that Republicans had a better plan to improve the economy, 45% to 37%, even though Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the party’s leaders in each chamber, have advanced few specific economic-policy proposals they would pursue if they controlled Congress,” The Journal said.
“This is a five-alarm fire for the Democratic Party,” Tom Beaven, who founded Real Clear Politics, said.
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