Voters are in a pessimistic mood as they head into the November midterm elections, deflated by rising gas prices and sinking personal finances, according to a memo obtained by Secrets.
Recently hopeful that high gas prices and inflation would be temporary, as the Biden administration had claimed, the switch back to higher prices has voters sour again, and that could result in Democrats paying a price at the polls.
MTG DEFENDS INFOWARS’S ALEX JONES IN TRIAL AFTERMATH
“Voters have been pessimistic about the economy throughout 2022. However, there was a notable decline in pessimism over the course of the summer as gas prices fell. More recently, as gas prices have gone up again, economic pessimism has increased as well,” said the three-page memo.
It was done by pollster Scott Rasmussen’s RMG Research for the influential America First Policy Institute. The focus was the public’s “perception” of economic conditions a month from Election Day.
More than any other issue, RMG said personal finances are driving voters in an election reminiscent of the 1992 contest when former President Bill Clinton’s chief strategist James Carville famously wrote on a campaign office whiteboard, “The economy, stupid.”
The memo said, “The single most important indicator of how people will vote is related to personal finances. Currently, just 21% of voters say their personal finances are getting better, while 47% say their finances are getting worse. That’s a net -26 points.”
The generic congressional vote did shift back to the left as gas prices dropped a month ago, but that has shifted again to the right.
SEE THE LATEST POLITICAL NEWS AND BUZZ FROM WASHINGTON SECRETS
“When gas prices started to increase again, pessimism about personal financial trends rose to the current levels of -26. Once again, it is no coincidence that Democrats lost ground on the generic ballot during this same time frame,” said the memo.
Here are the points the memo said are driving voter pessimism:
- Fifty-nine percent say they expect gas prices in their area to go up during the next month.
- Three out of 4 (76%) voters say that grocery prices have gone up. Sixty percent expect further increases.
- Fifty-seven percent of voters say that the United States is currently in a recession.
- Thirty-five percent rate their personal finances as good or excellent. That’s down 11 points from last summer.
- Just 21% rate current economic conditions as good.
- Just 28% of voters say they’re better off than they were two years ago.
