Trump Losing Support On Economic Issues, Democrats Surge To Nine-Point Lead On Generic Ballot: Poll

Democrats have surged to a nine-point advantage over Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, according to a new poll.

The New York Times/Siena poll found that voters now trust Democrats more on issues like immigration, the economy, the cost of living, health care, and foreign wars. One issue where Republicans did poll better than Democrats was artificial intelligence, where they had a narrow two-point advantage.

The poll surveyed 1,503 likely voters nationwide and was conducted from Sept. 8 to 13 and found that approval for Trump stood at 38 percent. It also showed that the biggest drag on Republicans has been the economy and cost of living. Only 28 percent of voters approved of Trump’s approach to cost-of-living issues. Trump has even lost support of his base on the issue of the economy: White voters without a college degree now disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy by a 21-point margin.

Since the start of the Iran war, the inflation rate has risen. In January, the rate was 2.4 percent; following the start of the war, the rate spiked to a high of 4.2 percent in May. Since then, the inflation rate has settled in at about 3.4 percent.

However, according to the Economic Policy Institute, wage growth has been about 3.1 percent. This means that, in real dollars, people are earning less and are having their buying power eroded.

Inflation is unlikely to ease in the coming months, as the Iran war continues to disrupt oil production in the Middle East and supply chains. Also, the Russia-Ukraine war has impacted fuel production, with Ukraine now striking Russian oil refinery infrastructure.

Diesel prices, crucial to the trucking and farming industries, have been significantly affected. The average price of a gallon of diesel is now about $6.26, according to AAA. That’s a $ 2.58-per-gallon increase compared to the same time a year ago.

Hostilities in the Middle East continue. This week, Iran-backed Houthi rebels made significant gains in Yemen. And Saudi Arabia’s 745-mile East-West pipeline has been shut down because of the attacks. The pipeline was allowing Saudi Arabia to send oil across the country for shipping and avoid the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping through the Strait has been effectively shut down by Iran during the war.

The cumulative effect of inflation outpacing wage growth and relatively high gas prices has caused an erosion of support for Republicans on the economy.

The New York Times/Sienna poll found that in January 72 percent of Republicans said the economy was better than the previous year. That figure has fallen to only 29 percent of Republicans now.