For a long time, inflation has been a major concern for voters. The economic stability of the United States is extremely worrying, with everything becoming more expensive and prices still high.
This was actually one of the major issues that voters were concerned about going into the midterms in 2022. Nearly all polls showed that inflation and the economy were the most important issues for voters. Other issues fell a little behind.
A Gallup poll has revealed that the U.S. Government has more problems than inflation.
Gallup’s most recent poll found that more Americans cite the government as their nation’s biggest problem. This was despite the rough start to the 118th Congress. Inflation remains the second most-cited problem (15%) and illegal immigration rose three percentage points to 11% amid increased tensions at the southern U.S. Border. The lowest reading in a single year was the six-point drop in economic mentions to 10%.
Although “Inflation” is still more important than “Economy in general”, economic concerns are not outweighing “The government/Poor leaders”. However, this difference is only 25 to 21. The lack of good leadership in government is causing a lot of concern among voters. This is not good news for either party but it does have a negative effect on the party currently in power, which is the Democrats.
It also shows how much government leadership is a problem over crime and racism, which are top issues for Republicans and Democrats each cycle. This would suggest that citizens don’t want politicians to give moral platitudes and they want to see solutions. It is possible, though not impossible, to do so.
It is also notable that immigrants are a growing concern of voters. This could be due to the inability to find solutions from Congress and the White House. Imagine how much more Americans would be able to live with their politicians working on solutions, rather than just talking points.
This is a sign of a major problem in our media, political, and punditry classes: too much attention on things within their bubbles and not enough on the things that are actually meaningful to average Americans. Imagine if politicians were focused on real solutions and not just messaging bills or talking points that fit into a tweet. Imagine if journalists were doing real journalism and not activist “Gotcha!” journalism.
There are solutions and even bipartisan solutions, but only if there was genuine interest in solving problems, not just scoring rhetorical points.
