Latest news with #midtermElections
Reuters
3 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Exclusive: Democrats want new leaders, focus on pocketbook issues, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
WASHINGTON, June 19 (Reuters) - Democrats want new leaders for their party, which many feel isn't focusing enough on economic issues and is over-emphasizing issues like transgender rights and electric vehicles, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. The poll identified a deep disconnect between what Democrats say their priorities are and the issues they believe party leaders care about most ahead of next year's midterm elections, when they hope to crack Republican control of Congress. They see their elected officials as not focused on helping families make ends meet and reducing corporate influence. Democrat Kamala Harris' November loss to Republican Donald Trump has left the party rudderless and sparked a round of soul-searching about the path forward. The poll shows that party leaders have work to do in recruiting candidates for Congress in 2026 -- and for the White House in 2028. Some 62% of self-identified Democrats in the poll agreed with a statement that "the leadership of the Democratic Party should be replaced with new people." Only 24% disagreed and the rest said they weren't sure or didn't answer. Just 30% of Republicans polled said they thought their party leadership should be replaced. Democrats' dissatisfaction is also playing out in leadership changes, including this week's resignation of Randi Weingarten, the influential president of the American Federation of Teachers, from the Democratic National Committee -- which followed the ouster of progressive activist David Hogg. The Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 4,258 people nationwide and online June 11 through 16, including 1,293 Democrats. It had a margin of error of about 3 percentage points for Democrats. It found that Democrats want the party to focus on their day-to-day needs and want wealthier Americans to pay more in taxes. California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is viewed as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, agrees. "People don't trust us, they don't think we have their backs on issues that are core to them, which are these kitchen table issues," Newsom said on his podcast in April. Democratic strategists who reviewed the poll's findings said they send a clear message. "Voters are very impatient right now," said Mark Riddle, who heads Future Majority, a Democratic research firm. "They want elected officials at all levels to address the cost of living, kitchen-table issues and affordability." The poll found a gap between what voters say they care about and what they think the party's leaders prioritize. It was particularly wide on the issue of reducing corporate spending in political campaigns, where 73% of Democrats said they viewed putting limits on contributions to political groups like Super PACs a priority, but only 58% believed party leaders prioritize that. That issue matters to Sam Boland, 29, a Democrat in Minneapolis, who views Super PAC money as a way to 'legally bribe' candidates. 'Politicians want to keep their jobs and are afraid of the impact that publicly funded elections might have,' Boland said. Along that line, 86% of Democrats said changing the federal tax code so wealthy Americans and large corporations pay more in taxes should be a priority, more than the 72% of those surveyed think party leaders make it a top concern. The Republican-controlled Congress is currently pushing forward with Trump's sweeping tax-cut bill that would provide greater benefits to the wealthy than working-class Americans. Anthony Rentsch, 29, of Baltimore, said he believes Democratic leaders are afraid to embrace more progressive policies such as higher taxes on the wealthy. 'A lot of Trump's success has been with populist messages, and I think there's similar populist message Democrats can have,' Rentsch said. Democrats' own priorities appeared more in line with party leaders on abortion rights - which 77% cited as a priority. Dissatisfaction over the party's priorities on several economic policies was stronger among younger Democrats like Boland and Rentsch. For example, only 55% of Democrats aged 18-39 thought the party prioritized paid family leave that would allow workers to care for sick family members and bond with a new baby, but 73% said it was a priority for them. Among older Democrats, the same share - 68% - that said the issue was a priority for them said it was a priority for party leaders. Rentsch said that criticizing Trump over his conduct won't be enough to win over skeptical voters. 'That can't be it,' Rentsch said. 'It has to be owning those issues that have an impact on their economic well-being and their physical and mental well-being.' Democratic respondents said the party should be doing more to promote affordable childcare, reduce the price of prescription drugs, make health insurance more readily available and support mass transit. They view party leaders as less passionate about those issues than they are, the poll found. Even so, some Democrats argue the party also needs to stand toe-to-toe with Trump. 'They gotta get mean,' said Dave Silvester, 37, of Phoenix. Other Democrats said the party sometimes over-emphasizes issues that they view as less critical such as transgender rights. Just 17% of Democrats said allowing transgender people to compete in women and girls' sports should be a priority, but 28% of Democrats think party leaders see it as such. Benjamin Villagomez, 33, of Austin, Texas said that while trans rights are important, the issue too easily lends itself to Republican attacks. 'There are more important things to be moving the needle on,' said Villagomez, who is trans. 'There are more pressing issues, things that actually matter to people's livelihoods.' Democratic strategists say that if Trump's trade and tax policies lead to higher prices and an increased budget deficit, the party needs to be ready to take full advantage in next year's elections, which will decide control of Congress. 'This recent polling data indicates Democrats have room for improvement on criticizing Trump on the economy and making it clear to voters that Democrats are the ones standing up for working people,' said Ben Tulchin, who served as U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders' pollster for his two presidential campaigns. The party needs to get beyond portraying itself 'as the lesser of two evils," Boland, the Minneapolis Democrat, said. 'It needs to transform itself into a party that everyday people can get excited about,' he said. 'That requires a changing of the guard.'
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Capitol Hill reacts to Trump/Musk feud
The explosive conflict between President Trump and Elon Musk is reverberating on Capitol Hill, where the fate of the President's "Big Beautiful Bill" remains in flux. Jim Lokay discusses the feud with NOTUS reporter Riley Rogerson, plus how Musk's fortune could factor into next year's midterm elections.
Wall Street Journal
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
A Look Ahead at the 2026 Midterm Elections
Most Americans aren't thinking about next year's midterm election. But leaders, lawmakers and candidates in both parties are—and for good reason. The most consequential battle across the contested arenas in 2026—the Senate, the House, governorships and state legislatures—will likely be the fight for the House. It's the most likely to flip from Republican to Democrat, putting a major crimp in President Trump's final two years.
Daily Mail
30-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Polling guru identifies 'low energy' Trump supporters as the key group that will decide future U.S. elections
New polling shows that a key group of voters who helped propel President Donald Trump to victory 2024 are not as enthusiastic about supporting Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections. The polling group J.L. Partners sounded the alarm, outlining the mood of 'mid-propensity voters' (MPVs) in a political analysis memo shared with the Daily Mail. These are people who supported Trump in 2024 but are considered 'low energy;' voters who are not fully committed to voting in the midterm elections. Politically unaligned, 42 percent of these voters identify as Independent or unaffiliated, but supported Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. Thirty-six percent of them backed Trump while 32 percent chose Harris and 29 percent did not even vote. The mid-propensity voters make up 20 percent of the electorate in the United States, and ranked their likelihood of voting between 4 and 7 out of ten, the memo revealed. The mid-propensity voters who supported Trump are mostly younger, 18-29 and likely to be black, according to the memo. When asked to choose the most important convincing argument for voting in the midterms, the Trump MPVs cited the importance of Republicans keeping their majorities in Congress to help a Republican presidential candidate win in 2028. 'It might seem odd, but it is intuitive when you think about it – these are presidential elections and they are thinking through a presidential election prism,' James Johnson, Co-Founder of J.L. Partners said. J.L. Partners collected a nationally representative sample of 3,041 registered voters across several polls that fielded throughout April and May 2025 reaching 564 MPVs and 229 MPVs who voted for Trump. 'If you are a Republican operative, the best way to get the message across is to make these elections about putting the GOP in the best position to carry the agenda that Trump has championed forward into years to come,' Johnson said. The party in power has historically struggled to keep voters in the presidential election motivated, as the opposition party tends to enjoy a boost in support. As Trump is technically prevented from running for a third term, positioning his successor to the MAGA movement appears paramount for the Republican Party if they want to achieve majorities in 2026. The president's team is already preparing for a likely attempt by Democrats to impeach him, if they win the House majority in 2026. They are also keenly aware that Trump has to deliver on many of his campaign promises to keep his supporters positive. 'We need to pass the tax cuts and avoid a recession,' Trump's longtime pollster, John McLaughlin said to Axios. 'That's the high stakes here. We cannot lose the midterms.'
Washington Post
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
How should Democrats respond to Trump's megabill? The 3 C's.
Democrats need to have a frank conversation — with themselves. We must acknowledge where we are and appreciate what we can realistically accomplish. Yes, we should oppose the MAGA agenda at every turn. But given that we control neither the bully pulpit nor any congressional gavel, we need to focus foremost on what's winnable — next year's midterm elections. At core, the 2026 campaign will be a referendum on President Donald Trump and his rubber-stamp congressional Republicans. Our task is to help the public understand what the Republicans are doing and how it affects them. That job begins with Trump's audaciously named One Big Beautiful Bill. This will likely be the most significant piece of legislation to pass during Trump's term and should be understood by the public in one phrase: tax cuts for the wealthy, health-care cuts for the many. The simplicity of that binary is its virtue. Trump is a chaos machine — a disciple of professional wrestling who will try to distract from the underlying reality — see his comment that he's 'not going to touch [Medicaid].' We can't chase every shiny bauble — we need to laser focus on points that will deliver strategic value. This is our opportunity to define Trump and his congressional enablers. Recall that we spent 2024 trying to convince Americans that our democracy was in Trump's crosshairs. That message failed. We now need to paint the reality we know and the public perceives, but which the Trump Show often obscures: The administration and its Capitol Hill minions are beacons of the three C's: corruption, chaos and cruelty. Set aside the rhetoric about fascism, oligarchies or Democratic weakness. Any utterance that fails to burnish the public's understanding of the three C's is our own distraction. The present fight over the budget bill, which the House approved Thursday morning, is the ripest opportunity we'll have to lift the fog that can define 2026. Recent history is clear. When a single party controls both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, as the GOP does today, the midterm political landscape adheres to a certain architecture. The opposition's base is energized. Swing voters steer clear of the entrenched party. And the incumbent party's base is depressed by comparison to the prior election. In 1994, Republicans stormed to victory by focusing the public's attention on the Clinton administration's lurch to the left, as exemplified by its health-care failure. In 2006, Democrats stormed back to power by pounding at the quagmire in Iraq and the GOP's domestic corruption scandals involving the likes of Rep. Tom DeLay (Texas) and lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In 2018, Democrats made a showcase of Trump's ruthless efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and separate families at the border. The question before Democrats is how to focus the public's attention and make 2026 a referendum on the three C's. To be sure, Trump will try to flood the zone with distractions. That's a trap. Incensed by each successive outrage, our ill-defined and unfocused reactions too often make us appear like defenders of the status quo. At heart, Americans really do want reform — but they also want protection against Trump's chaos. Once voters understand that congressional Republicans are a rubber stamp, they'll be looking explicitly for a check on his chaotic corruption. That's why the One Big Beautiful Bill is target rich. Trump and the GOP Congress want to cut taxes on well-connected billionaires by slashing health care for working families. That might not be corruption the way Washington good government groups define it, but it's how the public sees a corrupt system at work. Democrats have yet to make this the signal through the noise. If we want to win, we need to narrow our critique — to hammer home the notion that Trump is rewarding his inaugural donors and friends by immiserating everyone else. On the political front, a focus on the three C's would harness three benefits for 2026. First, it would pull Democrats and independent voters into a singular bloc. Second, it would drive a wedge between independent voters and the GOP. Most important, it would cleave MAGA populists from the (very few) fiscal conservatives that remain in the GOP. The populists understand the Medicaid cuts will close rural hospitals and cut the MAGA faithful's health care — the fiscal conservatives, meanwhile, see pain as the sole purpose. This is the binary choice we need to sharpen. Set aside Trump's crypto schemes and his solicitation of Qatar's 'free' plane — that's baked into the electorate's deep-seated cynicism. As recent polling has shown, the public is poised to believe they're being fleeced by the Trump 'system.' That's what the rubber-stamp Republicans will have done when this bill cuts more people's health care than any other in history. The goal of a Democratic counterproposal is not to bring peace among the Democratic factions — it is to bring disquiet to the GOP. Which brings us to the last point: In this situation, less is more. Democrats don't need to produce a whole budget plan. The counterproposal is not going to become law. They simply need to compel Republicans in swing districts and states to take a vote that raises taxes on the well-to-do and restores health care for the many. Raising taxes on people making more than $2.5 million, eliminating the tax break for carried interest and restoring the corporate rate to the previously proposed 27 percent would give Congress enough money to leave the nation's health-care system harmless — no cuts to Medicaid, to the Children's Health Insurance Program, or to the premium support for coverage purchased on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. This is how we put marginal GOP members at grave political risk, forcing them to choose between their districts and loyalty to Trump. For 2026, we need to burnish the three C's in the public's mind. Trump's agenda is unchecked and out of control. We need to hound that narrative until it becomes the essential question animating voters casting ballots in November next year.
