Yes, voters do care about government deficits and debt.
I have argued here, repeatedly, not just that the annual federal deficit and growing long-term debt are at crisis levels but that cutting deficits is good politics, too. The simple fact is that for at least the last quarter-century, Republicans repeatedly have fared better in House and Senate races when they were collectively behaving with spending discipline than when they were profligate.
Now comes a survey by a respected pollster to say voters themselves say cutting the deficit is of utmost importance. As reported by the Washington Examiner’s Anna Giaritelli: “A Morning Consult-Politico poll released Wednesday found that 75 percent of registered voters think that reducing the annual budget deficit is either a top priority or an important priority. The combined percentage for deficit reduction was higher than any other major issue raised in the poll.” Only 11 percent of the public thought deficit-reduction is not an important priority, and only three percent said it is no priority at all.
Interestingly, African-Americans, usually seen as the most loyal of Democratic voters, are particularly likely to support deficit reduction. Whereas 39 percent of all voters rate it “a top priority,” 45 percent of black Americans do — the highest for any ethnic group. And overall, 73 percent of Democrats support deficit control, with 38 percent — only one percent less than among Republicans — saying it is a top priority.
Of course, the public can be hazy on how government spends money, and people may support deficit control in general but oppose specific cuts when those specifics are proposed. Still, citizens tend to vote on impressions in the aggregate, and when neither party seems inclined to curb deficits in the aggregate, voters seem to figure that if the supposedly conservative Republicans aren’t actually fiscally disciplined, they (the voters) might as well vote otherwise or stay home.
For some reason, many Republican officeholders see their “base” voters either as social conservatives or as the big business/high finance/professional class. If so, they forget the reality that the small businessman on Main Street, the more highly skilled blue-collar workers, and the proverbial housewives of suburbia have for a full century been the bedrock of whatever coalitions Republicans have built. Those are demographic groups that care about deficits and debt and that vote accordingly.
It’s high time Congress and the president again started hearing their voices.
