A New York Times report recently pointed out a serious issue for President Biden’s chances of re-election: many Democratic voters are unhappy with the state of the economy.
A poll by the Times and Siena College found that in six crucial states, 62% of Democratic voters think the economy is in a “fair” or “poor” condition.
This is a worrying sign for Biden’s campaign because how people feel about the economy often plays a big role in whether a president gets re-elected.
The report highlighted that the economic troubles, like rising prices and high interest rates, are hitting Biden’s key supporters — younger, less wealthy, and racially diverse voters — the hardest.
Many of these voters are not happy with how Biden has dealt with the economy.
However, they still see him as a better option than Donald Trump.
Oscar Nuñez, a 27-year-old from Nevada, said he had hoped for more from Biden but sees another term of Trump as “dangerous” for the country. He feels like Biden is his only choice.
This feeling of being stuck between two bad options was also mentioned by a young progressive couple from Georgia.
They believe Biden hasn’t done enough for the middle class and to tackle the growing gap between rich and poor.
Mackenzie Kiser, 20, shared her dissatisfaction with the economy, but feels that both Trump and Biden are too old to run again, leaving her in a tough spot for the next election.
It’s not yet clear if these economic concerns will make these voters change their minds about who to vote for in 2024.
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According to the Times, while 47% of Biden’s supporters in these states are more worried about social issues than the economy, 42% still see the economy as their main concern.
Joshua Doss, a political research analyst, thinks the real danger is not that these unhappy voters will switch to Trump, but that they might not vote at all.
He said, “The threat is that they would choose the couch and stay home, and enough of them would stay home for an electoral college win for Trump.”
The poll also showed a shift among Black voters in these states, with 22 percent open to supporting Trump in a hypothetical 2024 rematch.
This is a big jump from the 8 percent he had nationally in 2020. Hispanic voters are also moving away from Biden, with a Fox News poll showing a 17-point decrease in support since 2020.
In response to these issues, Biden campaign official Michael Tyler, in a CNN interview, admitted that voters are frustrated with unmet promises but argued that Biden needs another four years to fix the country’s financial problems.
He pointed out the challenges posed by what he called “the brick wall of MAGA extremism.”
