A new survey from a major Democratic group found voters are increasingly angry with both their personal financial situations and the nation’s politics, showing the national mood is darkening seven months into President Donald Trump’s second term.
“This paints a really bleak picture of where Americans are right now,” said Jessica Mackler, the president of EMILYs List, which commissioned the poll from the Democratic firm Impact Research. “The depth and scale of people’s struggle right now is particularly stark.”
While the poll did not directly ask about the midterm elections, it found that voters — especially women — are fatigued with a sputtering economy and distrustful of the political system.
“Most Americans, but particularly women, are struggling financially in their daily lives and feel bleak about their financial futures,” the pollsters wrote in a memo describing their findings. “Voters’ overwhelming feeling that they can’t get ahead has led to a strong desire to elect leaders who can connect with the hardships of their everyday lives and are going to actually do something to improve it — Democratic women are best positioned to connect with voters on both these fronts.”
While Trump returned to the White House on the back of voters worried about price hikes and a feeling the middle class was falling behind, he’s been unable to transform voter sentiment about the economy. More than three-fifths of voters believe the economy isn’t doing well, according to the survey, compared to just 37% who think it is doing well. Voters blame Republicans for the economy, with 70% saying the GOP is more responsible than Democrats.
The survey found women are more likely to be struggling financially: 45% of women said they are falling behind or only making enough money to cover day-to-day expenses, while just 34% of men said the same. Only 24% of women said they were optimistic their financial situation would improve over the next year, while 34% of men said the same. Nearly 6 in 10 women described themselves as caregivers, work for which they are often paid little or nothing.
The memo also highlights voter disdain for the status quo ― a significant finding from a group largely associated with the Democratic establishment. Nearly 80% of Americans say Washington needs big changes, and those struggling financially were three times more likely to say Washington was broken beyond repair than to say it was doing well.
Impact Research surveyed 1,800 people from June 25 to June 30. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.