CNN polling expert marvels at collapse of Democratic advantage with middle class in Trump era

CNN senior political data reporter Harry Enten Monday marveled at how Democrats continue to face a stark lack of confidence from voters on the economy and middle class issues.
Voter dissatisfaction with former President Biden's management of the economy was one of the major issues that led to President Donald Trump's return to the White House. While Trump may have stirred controversy with his tariff and immigration policy shakeups since then, the economy appears to be one key area where he retains voters' trust.
CNN host Kate Bolduan observed as she spoke to Enten that, according to CNN's own polling, Republicans are actually gaining ground in terms of being trusted to help America's struggling middle class.
"Yeah, you know, historically speaking, 'Which is the party of the middle class?' has been a huge advantage for Democrats," Enten said, referring to one question from the polling.
He said Democrats had a 23-point advantage on this question in 1989 and a 17-point advantage in 2016, "But by this decade, we already started seeing declines back in 2022, where you saw that Democrats led, but only by four points, well within the margin of error."
Now it's tied.
"This, I think, speaks to Democratic ills more than anything else," he argued. "They have traditionally been the party of the middle class. No more! Donald Trump and the Republican Party have taken that mantle away, and now a key advantage for Democrats historically has gone 'adios, amigos,' and now there is no party that is the party of the middle class. Republicans have completely closed the gap, Kate."
Enten also said while one might think Trump's rocky experimentation with tariffs might shake voters' faith in Republicans and make them consider the opposition, but, "It ain't so. It ain't so!"
The data reporter noted that in November 2023, Republicans had an 11-point advantage as "the party that is closest to your economic views." He noted, "Now it's still within that range, still within that margin of error, plus eight point advantage for the Republican Party. How is that possible, Democrats?"
Enten continued to break down the numbers, wondering, "How is it possible after all the recession fears? After the stock market's been doing all of this, after all the tariffs that Americans are against, and Republicans still hold an eight-point lead on the economy? Are you kidding me?"
He argued that CNN's poll was echoed by similar findings from Reuters/Ipsos, showing that confidence in Republicans to handle the economy has risen.
"And again, this is after months of supposed economic uncertainty in which the stock market's been going bonkers, in which tariff wars that Americans are against have been going on. And yet, despite all of that, the Democrats are down by 12 points on the economy," he said.
"This speaks to Democratic problems on the economy better than basically anything that you could possibly look at," Enten continued, arguing that even if approval ratings are slightly lower than they once were, Republicans maintain a clear advantage with public opinion on their management of the economy.

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