CNN Political Director David Chalian described Wednesday how Democrats could face a wipeout in the upcoming midterms based on the issues on voters’ minds.
“What you see is since the beginning of last month, Republicans have grown plus four and Democrats went from 50% to 47%, minus three,” Chalian told “CNN Newsroom” host Ana Cabrera. “So you see that as we’re getting closer to the election, likely voters are giving more advantage to the Republicans.” (RELATED: ‘He’s Gotta Own It’: Harris Faulkner Spars With Dem Consultant Over Biden’s Blame For Economy)
A CNN poll showed Republicans had a 4% lead on the generic congressional ballot, as did a poll by Quinnipiac. A NPR/PBS/Marist poll reported that Republicans had a 3% lead on the generic ballot.
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“The mood of the country is not good. Take a look here: Three-quarters of Americans in our poll say things are going pretty or very badly in America, only 26% think things are going very or fairly well in the country,” Chalian said. “So that spells for a change election. The issue that is driving this election, as you were just talking about with Phil, is the economy and inflation. Overwhelmingly, 51% of likely voters in our poll say the economy and inflation is issue number one.”
Some experts, including former Obama administration official Steven Rattner, have said the spending in legislation like the American Rescue Plan Biden signed into law in March 2021, helped send inflation to levels not seen for decades. The CPI increased 8.2% year-to-year in September after rising by 8.3% in August, 8.6% in July, 9.1% in June and 8.5% in May.
“Among voters who say that the economy is the most important vote, most important issue, look how they split here on the ballot: 71% of likely economy voters are going to vote for the Republican they say, 26% for the Democrat,” Chalian said. “So, Republicans clearly have an advantage when it comes to the issue environment as well.”
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