With the release of a new poll by The New York Times and Siena College on Tuesday, Biden and his Democratic Party face further bad news.
In October, independent women’s support for Democrats and Republicans changed by an astounding 32 points, a 14-point change from September.
The poll shows that 49 percent of likely voters said they planned to vote for a Republican to represent them in Congress on Nov. 8, compared with 45 percent who planned to vote for a Democrat. The result represents an improvement for Republicans since September when Democrats held a one-point edge among likely voters in the last Times/Siena poll.
The biggest shift came from women who identified as independent voters. In September, they favored the Democrats by 14 points. Now, independent women backed Republicans by 18 points.
According to the Times/Siena poll, inflation and the economy are the most important topics for voters, exceeding Jan. 6, climate change, abortion, and the pandemic by a substantial margin.
Clearly, the demography of really independent voters is trending toward the Republicans, with the GOP gaining a 10-point lead among independent voters in September, compared to the Democrats’ 3-point advantage. According to the Times, undecided voters have also swung toward the Republican Party.
“I’m shifting more towards Republican because I feel like they’re more geared towards business,” says Robin Ackerman, a 37-year-old Democratic mortgage loan officer. While she was against “1,000 percent” the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, “that doesn’t really have a lot to do with my decision,” she continued, adding: “I’m more worried about other things.”
The Times said, “Democrats have no margin for error in 2022, with a razor-thin majority in the House and a 50-50 Senate where a single seat flip would provide a Republican majority.”
In an appearance with MSNBC, however, Nancy Pelosi rejected the Times/Siena study as an oddity.
Despite a “exceptional” parliamentary session, anchor Andrea Mitchell implied that Pelosi’s polling numbers for the Democrats were declining.
“Despite all the legislative accomplishments, I want to cite them, I want to say it’s been an extraordinary session, you and the president have done so much in terms of domestic concerns, the economy. Why is this message, why do you think the president hasn’t gotten this message through to the voters?” Mitchell asked.
“Well, first of all, let me say that I think that much of what you’ve said I don’t agree with, that is to say ‘The New York Times’ poll, I think this is an outlier poll, you just cite one poll, but all the other polls,” Pelosi replied.
“It’s also – the ‘RealClearPolitics’ average is showing similar issues,” Mitchell continued.
“No, but these, but that was one that brought down the average, and it was an outlier. It wasn’t even that big a sample. So I – I dismissed that. I have been – since Congress adjourned, I’ve been in an average of five states a week. And I can tell you that women’s concerns about their freedom are very, very much still very significant in terms of how they will vote,” said Pelosi, despite polls showing abortion is no longer a major issue for women.
More on this story via The Republic Brief:
According to The Daily Caller:
Democratic super PACs and campaigns have dropped nearly $18 million on abortion-related ads despite polls showing that economy and inflation issues rank higher amongst voter concerns. A July Monmouth University poll found abortion was the most important issue for just 5% of voters while 63% said inflation was their top issue. CONTINUE READING…