History has shown that a sitting president should expect to watch his party lose a few House seats during midterm elections… but President Joe Biden might preside over a historic red tsunami this November.
Politico just reported on a new focus group by HIT, and the results look bleak for the Democrats.
The focus group included only partisan Democrats. These respondents “always vote for Dems,” according to the language of the press release.
These normally loyal voters slammed the White House on two issues in particular: crime and inflation.
Even Democrats, it seems, are turning on the Biden administration.
Dem strategists focus-group the party's most loyal voters. Two groups — black voters and 25-39s. Do not hear good news for Dems' midterm hopes. From @playbookdc https://t.co/0eYO0y1Ekt pic.twitter.com/hQVIaUikEC
— Byron York (@ByronYork) April 5, 2022
The Biden administration and its cheerleaders have claimed that the economy is booming. They’ve touted rapid growth in assets and a surprisingly low unemployment rate. Some of them have even dismissed concerns about inflation. On Sunday, one columnist wrote in The Washington Post, “Biden’s economic record is extraordinary, but it is marred by inflation.”
The focus group’s participants weren’t buying it.
One respondent, a man from Texas, described certain economic ills disguised by the unemployment rate and exacerbated by inflation. He spoke pessimistically about working for $12 or $13 per hour.
“No one can live off of that, especially with inflation,” he said.
The voters also hammered the Democrats on crime. A respondent from New York questioned local officials’ efforts to reform bail for “repeat offenders.” A woman in Philadelphia expressed frustration with police inaction on “repeat offenders” for carjacking and gun crimes.
A respondent from Montana put it most succinctly. “I think Democrats have just been really ineffectual,” she said.
Another respondent confessed to feeling apathetic about the midterms “At this moment the Democrats [are] running the House, and they’re not getting much done,” she said.
Some Biden supporters have tried to console themselves despite the dismal polling. They’ve pointed out that Biden’s poll numbers have fallen largely with young people, who have low rates of turnout anyway.
However, this particular focus group surveyed both Democrats under 40 and Black Democrats. The latter group tends to turn out more often. Plus in 2020, voters turned out in proportions not seen since the year 1900.
Biden supporters are facing a harsh reality just months before the midterm when they’ll need their core voters to show up.
The voters represented in this focus group view the Democrats as inactive… and they may vote their conscience this November.
Coupled with huge fundraising numbers from the House Republicans, the Democrats may find themselves crushed under a history-making red tsunami this November.
The Horn editorial team