{"id":16260,"date":"2025-12-04T11:02:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T11:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/dems-keep-beating-republicans-on-affordability-our-new-poll-shows-why\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T11:02:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T11:02:13","slug":"dems-keep-beating-republicans-on-affordability-our-new-poll-shows-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/dems-keep-beating-republicans-on-affordability-our-new-poll-shows-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Dems keep beating Republicans on affordability. Our new poll shows why."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

New polling shows many Americans have begun to blame President Donald Trump for the high costs they\u2019re feeling across virtually every part of their lives \u2014 and it\u2019s shifting politics.<\/p>\n

Almost half \u2014 46 percent \u2014 say the cost of living in the U.S. is the worst they can ever remember it being, a view held by 37 percent of 2024 Trump voters. Americans also say that the affordability crisis is Trump\u2019s responsibility, with 46 percent saying it is his economy now and his administration is responsible for the costs they struggle with.<\/p>\n

Those are among the new results from The POLITICO Poll<\/a> that crystallize a growing warning sign for Republicans ahead of next year\u2019s midterms: Some of the very groups that powered Trump\u2019s victory last year are showing signs of breaking from that coalition, and it\u2019s the high cost of living that\u2019s driving them away.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a growing vulnerability that Democrats exploited repeatedly in recent months, with campaigns focused on affordability<\/a> sweeping key races in last month\u2019s elections in New Jersey and Virginia and powering an overperformance<\/a> in a deep-red House seat in Tennessee on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a small warning, but it\u2019s one that Republicans need to understand, is that to hold the House in 2026, it\u2019s going to be an all-hands-on-deck effort,\u201d GOP strategist Ford O\u2019Connell said after the Tennessee election, where Republican Matt Van Epps beat Democrat Aftyn Behn by 9 points, but underperformed against Trump\u2019s 22-point margin in 2024.<\/p>\n

One year ago, Trump\u2019s economic message helped him piece together a diverse winning coalition, fueling his return to the White House amid widespread frustration over spiraling inflation.<\/p>\n

Then Trump, after campaigning against Joe Biden, inherited the economy he spent months attacking, and both parties were anticipating the moment when voters would begin to turn their blame to the new incumbent.<\/p>\n

Almost one year into Trump\u2019s term, that shift is well underway.<\/p>\n

The Blue Light News Poll, conducted by Public First, found that despite Trump\u2019s continued support among the Republican base, his softest supporters \u2014 the ones the GOP most needs to hold onto next year \u2014 are expressing concern.<\/p>\n

Republicans were already worried about how they can turn out lower-propensity voters during a midterm cycle when Trump himself is not on the ballot. Now Democrats are also trying to peel away their voters by focusing aggressively on affordability, which remains a top priority for 56 percent of Americans, according to The Blue Light News Poll. As was the case in November, affordability was central to the Tennessee special election, with Behn repeatedly centering her campaign on an affordability pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepublicans have long had the advantage on dealing with the economy, but if [it] remains in the doldrums and prices remain high, it\u2019s harder to find a good job, they will blame the party in power, and that\u2019s Republicans,\u201d said Arizona-based Republican strategist Barrett Marson.<\/p>\n

Republicans\u2019 growing vulnerabilities on the economy represent a stark inversion on an issue that has long defined the GOP, and presents an emerging splintering in Trump\u2019s 2024 winning coalition as his party heads into a high-stakes midterm fight.<\/p>\n

Three-quarters of Trump voters say they trust the Republican Party over Democrats to reduce the overall cost of living. But his numbers are far weaker among those who say they voted for him, but do not identify as \u201cMAGA Republicans\u201d \u2014 61 percent, compared to 88 percent of MAGA-aligned voters \u2014 pointing to a possible weak spot in his coalition.<\/p>\n

Even among Trump voters a meaningful portion \u2014 nearly 1 in 5 \u2014 say Trump holds full responsibility for the state of the current economy.<\/p>\n

The White House disputes that Trump is losing ground on the economy. \u201cCleaning up Joe Biden’s economic disaster has been a Day One priority for President Trump,\u201d spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump is just getting started implementing the policies that created historic economic prosperity in his first term, and Americans can rest assured that the best is yet to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Americans agree that affordability is their top priority, and they hold Trump responsible for addressing it<\/h4>\n

Across parties, age groups, races, genders and income levels, Americans say the cost of living is the nation\u2019s top problem, The Blue Light News Poll finds, a sign that the economy will again overshadow other political topics in next year\u2019s midterms.<\/p>\n

The poll underscores just how pervasive the affordability crisis cuts across Americans\u2019 everyday lives. A 45 percent plurality list grocery costs as the most challenging things to afford, followed by 38 percent who say housing costs and 34 percent who say health care. (Respondents could select multiple responses.)<\/p>\n

Forty-three percent of Americans \u2014 including 31 percent of Trump voters \u2014 say there is less economic opportunity in the U.S. now than there has been in the past.<\/p>\n

Other indicators present a similarly bleak view: Consumer sentiment fell<\/a> in November to one of its lowest levels on record, according to the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n

And while Trump frequently points to his predecessor to deflect blame for inflation and high prices, the survey reveals that defense is starting to crack.<\/p>\n

More Americans say Trump holds most or all responsibility for the economy (46 percent) than say Biden does (29 percent).<\/p>\n

“Voters aren’t going to go, \u2018I voted for Trump to better the economy, but Biden just hamstrung [him] too much,’\u201d Marson said. \u201cVoters are going to very quickly forget about Joe Biden and just as quickly turn their ire to Trump unless things get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The survey underscores how Trump is now running into the kinds of economic headwinds that dogged Biden and the Democratic Party during the 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n

While inflation rates have fallen from a high of 9.1 percent during the Biden administration to roughly 3 percent last month, voters\u2019 frustration with the cost of living has remained elevated.<\/p>\n

Biden repeatedly pointed to job growth to argue the economy was strong, even as prices rose. Now Republicans \u2014 who repeatedly hammered Biden over his handling of affordability concerns \u2014 are increasingly concerned that Trump is taking a similar tact.<\/p>\n

“It’s striking to see President Trump make the same mistake,” said Michael Strain, the director of Economic Policy Studies at the historically conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute.<\/p>\n

Voters say Trump isn\u2019t doing enough, and it\u2019s fracturing his coalition<\/h4>\n

The survey shows that there is a limit to how long Trump voters are willing to give him to deliver on a core campaign pledge. Already, 1 in 5 say he has had a chance to change the economy but has not taken it, underscoring how an issue that helped Trump form his coalition is now splitting it.<\/p>\n

A significant portion of Trump\u2019s voters last year did not come from his base \u2014 more than a third, 38 percent, self-identified as not being a \u201cMAGA Republican\u201d in the survey \u2014 and those voters are more likely than self-identified MAGA Republicans to hold a pessimistic view of Trump\u2019s handling of the economy.<\/p>\n

Among non-MAGA Trump voters, 29 percent say Trump has had a chance to change things in the economy but hasn\u2019t taken it \u2014 more than double the 11 percent of MAGA voters who say Trump had not taken his opportunity.<\/p>\n

Non-MAGA Republicans were also much more likely than MAGA voters to say the Trump administration is more responsible for the things they find difficult to afford, including grocery costs, utility bills and health care costs.<\/p>\n

Democrats are eager to<\/a> take advantage of the shifting politics of affordability and make the 2026 midterms a referendum on Trump\u2019s economic record \u2014 and plan to link GOP candidates up and down the ballot to his policies.<\/p>\n

Democrats from New York to Georgia zeroed in on affordability to propel them to victory in last month\u2019s elections, and many party leaders believe it\u2019s a playbook<\/a> that candidates should follow closely next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHouse Republicans should 100 percent expect to see ads next year calling them out for their broken promise to lower prices and for supporting Trump’s tariffs,\u201d CJ Warnke, a spokesperson for the Democratic super PAC House Majority PAC, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Republicans, for their part, argue they\u2019re the ones focused on reducing costs. \u201cWhile Democrats are fighting amongst themselves on who can be the next Zohran Mamdani socialist, Republicans are laser-focused on lowering costs, rebuilding prosperity, and delivering relief for the middle class,\u201d NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Trump allies also say he\u2019s making an affordability pitch<\/a>, even if voters aren\u2019t yet feeling improvements in their daily lives. But Trump himself has sent mixed messages on the issue.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, he posted on Truth Social about drug prices<\/a> that he claimed are falling so fast Republicans should easily win the midterms, declaring: \u201cI AM THE AFFORDABILITY PRESIDENT.\u201d<\/p>\n

Days later, he said \u201caffordability\u201d is a \u201cDemocrat scam\u201d and \u201ccon job\u201d during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just say the word,\u201d he said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean anything to anybody. They just say it \u2014 affordability. I inherited the worst inflation in history, there was no affordability. Nobody could afford anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New polling shows many Americans have begun to blame President Donald Trump for the high costs they\u2019re feeling across virtually every part of their lives \u2014 and it\u2019s shifting politics. Almost half \u2014 46 percent \u2014 say the cost of living in the U.S. is the worst they can ever remember it being, a view […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16260\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}