President Biden’s insistence that the economy is strong — and certainly not in a recession — rang hollow Tuesday to voters who said the view from Pennsylvania Avenue is largely divorced from what they see in their lives.
At polling places across the country, voters were signaling worries about the direction of Washington, which for the last two years has seen Democrats control the levers of political power.
The pain of inflation ran deep, with roughly three-quarters of voters telling exit pollsters rising prices have affected them — particularly at the grocery store. Many of them said their own personal financial situation had worsened over the last two years.
Mr. Biden seemed to take the brunt of the blame, garnering a 41% favorability rating in the early exit polling returns for most of the broadcast networks. A separate poll by The Associated Press and Fox News showed a similar low approval rating.
Less than a quarter of voters thought the economy is in good shape, and 7 in 10 weren’t satisfied with the direction of the country, including a third in the networks’ preliminary exit polling who were downright angry.
“Currently we are spending out of control and trying to set this country on a path that it really doesn’t need to be, and I’m just sick of it,” said Mark Snelling, 46, a window salesman, as he cast a ballot in Georgia.
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Democrats had hoped to ride voters’ anger at the Supreme Court’s June decision overturning the Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed a national right to abortion.
Polling suggested it did, indeed, matter to many Democratic voters, with nearly half of those backing a Democrat for their local House race saying abortion was their top issue.
“I am beyond baby-making years, but I care that other women have choices and options,” said Aisha, a voter in Georgia who declined to give her last name. “That is a big one for me.”
But the issue wasn’t always clear cut.
In northern Florida, where voters typically lean Republican, Janet, a 68-year-old retiree who declined to give her last name, said “faith issues and abortion” why she backed GOP candidates.
The national electorate was a little older than in 2020, with those 65 and older comprising 28% this year compared to 22% last time. Those under 30 were 12%, compared to 17% in 2020.
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Voters also skewed slightly less Democratic, with just 33% reporting to the network exit pollsters that they identified as Democrats. That’s down 4 points from 2020. The GOP’s share was steady at 36%, while independents rose 5 points to reach 31%.
But the ideological breakdown was similar to last time.
The electorate was about 6 points whiter than 2020, at 73% of voters.
Nearly three in five voters said they believed abortion should be legal in all or most cases, up 8 points compared to the 2020 electorate.
And 39% of voters said they were “angry” over the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Voters also express worry over the health of American democracy.
Less than 30% said they felt it was secure, while 33% said it was somewhat threatened and 36% said it was “very threatened.”
“I’m really worried about protecting our rights and protecting our democracy,” Kannan Srinivasan a Democrat who lives in Sterling, Virginia, said outside a polling place Tuesday. “[Election denial] concerns me a lot because we have in this country a pretty robust election system. We’re a country of laws and rules and no matter what side one is on, we should all make sure that we subscribe to the process.”
But worries over democracy weren’t an exclusively Democratic issue. Indeed, the networks’ exit polling showed GOP voters were just as likely to call it threatened.
Just 30% of those polled by the networks in the preliminary findings wanted Mr. Biden to run for re-election in 2024.
But as badly as voters viewed him, his former — and perhaps future — rival, Donald Trump, fared worse. He had a favorability rating of just 39% in the early tranche of exit polling.
Whatever their feelings, more than half of voters said Mr. Trump wasn’t part of their calculus in their votes on Tuesday. Some 16% said they cast votes with an eye to sending a message of support for the former president, but 28% said their vote was a statement of opposition.
Asked a slate of issues, 32% picked inflation as the most important to their vote — and they broke for Republicans 72% to 27%. Abortion was second on the list, the choice of 27% of voters, and they broke 76% for Democrats.
Crime, gun policy and immigration all huddled at around 10%.
A majority of voters said they trusted the GOP to handle inflation, crime and immigration better, while a majority preferred Democrats’ handling on abortion.
Ronald Abney, who lives in Marietta, Georgia, had a different take on inflation. The 63-year-old said he’s on Social Security, is about to start collecting a pension from his union job at a hospital, and figures the payments are likely to be higher with Democrats in office.
“Let’s keep it real. At least I get a little bit more money with Democrats,” he said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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