It’s painfully clear that Kamala Harris’ often touted call to ‘turn the page’ prior to the 2024 elections fell on deaf ears. Despite the loud and strained trumping up of her ‘appeal’, the public correctly identified her as part and parcel of an embarrassingly failing administration. Her call was heeded, however – just not in the way she’d envisioned. Americans, fed up and weary of disastrous democrats, used their votes to decisively shift power away from the Democratic Party at every level of the national government.
Their change of course had immediate positive impact. A national survey conducted shortly before Thanksgiving showed a significant boost in public morale, particularly where the economy was concerned, following the election of President Donald Trump to a second term. An overwhelming 63% of voters recognized the economy as their prime determinant in the 2024 elections, dwarfing the importance placed on other issues.
In fact, the value assigned to the economy was staggering – it was pegged as paramount by more than two and a half times as many voters compared to those who identified the next issue, border security, as their main concern. Unsurprisingly, as the administration changed hands, it was these very areas – the economy and border control – that voters expected Trump and Vance to focus on.
Among the most popular policy reform proposals, the poll identified two clear winners: the priority to secure our borders and proposals to slash taxes on tips, social security benefits, and overtime pay. It’s a clear statement from Americans who are utterly drained by the economic burdens brought on by the Biden years.
The mainstream media continually attempts to paint a rosier picture, suggesting lower prices are just around the corner. Everyday citizens, however, are not duped. They are confronted daily with the reality of Bidenomics when they sit down at their kitchen tables for dinner.
The ballooning grocery bills have been particularly hard on U.S. families. While there’s been a slight deceleration in price inflation, the truth remains: trips to the grocery store are a source of distress for a rising number of families. Its biting effect, a dramatic 46% increase under the Biden administration, is a relentless fact.
The public’s disillusionment was clearly shown in the survey, with only 35% expressing approval for Biden while a significant 55% voiced their disapproval. What’s more damning is that even Biden’s own backers from Harris’ pool of voters, almost 20%, criticized his performance.
When the poll turned to inquire about the impact of Biden’s and Harris’ policies on respondents’ lives, the feedback was overwhelmingly negative. Only 32% felt supported by their policies, while a shocking 54% reported feeling the pinch. Amongst neutral Independents, only a smaller portion, 26%, claimed to have benefitted from Biden and Harris’ decisions.
Trump’s election brings with it the promise of a brighter future and a palpable sense of optimism. Americans are quickly regaining their economic confidence with a promising 13% leap (49% to 36%) attributed to Trump’s election, a fact which further underscores the backyard realities of Biden and Harris’ failures.
This is particularly true amongst middle-income earners, those with annual earnings between $50,000 and $75,000, whose economic confidence grew by an impressive 18%, as the nation looks towards a future under President Trump’s leadership.
Trump’s America First strategy is causing a seismic shift in American politics. The Republican Party’s previously perceived alignment with the elite and the privileged is waning. Now, voters view the GOP as representing the interests of regular, hard-working Americans.
A narrow 4-point difference (45% to 41%) suggests that the comparison of the GOP as ‘the party of workers’ is trending better for Republicans than their past label as defenders of the wealthy. Within the Hispanic community, this is even more pronounced with a 10-point advantage for the GOP.
This voter shift was illustrated most strikingly in the 2024 election outcomes in which Trump snatched victory in all seven key battleground states, won the popular mandate and made historic strides in the greatest political comeback in U.S. history.
The outcomes of this election, as well as this poll’s detailed data, demonstrate the political resonance and popularity of Trump’s economic agenda under the America First movement. These priorities center on safeguarding the interests of American workers, controlling immigration, and protecting against economic incursions from nations like China, signaling the dawn of an era where the American citizen comes first.