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As Democrats shape the reconciliation package, Congressional leaders must work to earn voter trust on jobs, debt and support for private enterprise

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) recently commissioned a national survey by Expedition Strategies of public attitudes in battleground 44 House districts and eight states likely to have competitive Senate races next year. This second report focuses on how these pivotal voters compare the two parties on jobs and the economy, tax and fiscal policy, and innovation, entrepreneurship and competition.

“Our findings provide crucial context for today’s debate – both between the parties and between the pragmatic and left wings of the Democratic Party – over the size, cost and financing of President Biden’s ambitious Build Back Better plans,” said PPI President Will Marshall.

“The good news is that battleground voters trust Biden and the Democrats more to improve the economy and deliver tax fairness,” he added. “But there are warning signs here on job creation, deficits and paying for public investment that Democrats should heed as they shape their big reconciliation package.”

The full memo on this exclusive polling can be found here. Here are some of the key takeaways:

• • Battleground voters trust President Biden (53%- 47%) and Congressional Democrats (52%-48%) more than Republicans to “improve the economy.”
  • They overwhelmingly believe that Republicans stand more for the wealthy (74%) and favor special interests (63%), while Democrats are seen as representing the poor (72%).
  • Although they want Biden to succeed, voters divide evenly on which party “knows how to create good jobs” and lean toward the GOP as the party that “knows how to strengthen the economy (52-48).
  • Republicans appear to have a structural advantage on helping companies be more innovative, working to create private sector jobs, strengthening the economy, and helping U.S. firms win the competition with China for economic and technological leadership.
  • Two-thirds of battleground voters say they are concerned that Democrats are too anti-business. This includes 73% of Independents and even 42% of Democrats.
  • Possibly as a result, voters are more likely to credit the GOP as the party striving to create private sector jobs (54-46).
  • Voters lean strongly toward the Democratic position on tax fairness, saying their top goal for tax policy is “making sure the wealthy and companies pay more in taxes.”
  • Voters also side with Democrats in supporting additional IRS funding to crack down on tax cheats and evaders.
  • Battleground voters favor more public investment to improve the economy over cutting taxes and regulations by a solid margin, 58-42. Republican supply side nostrums aren’t getting traction.
  • On the economy, voters say jobs, growth and rewarding work are more important goals than addressing inequality and fairness. Only 10% said “promoting fairness” should be the most important goal.
  • Battleground district and state voters rank deficits and debt as their second highest economic concern. By 88-12, they say the national debt is a “serious problem.” Independents, undecideds, and Hispanic voters strongly express this view.
  • By 80-20, voters say they are worried about the mounting debt burden on the young and working families. They also express strong concerns about inflation (74-26).
  • Voters are slightly more inclined to blame Democrats than Republicans for running up public debt (32-28). Similarly, they trust Republicans more than Democrats (32-28) to get the debt under control, but a plurality (40%) say they trust neither party.
  • These voters favor (53-47) taxing gains from capital and labor at the same level. However, they oppose capital gains hikes when they are presented as a way to finance public investment in infrastructure and child tax credits (54% opposed).

Read the poll here.

Last week, PPI released the first report on the poll, which focused on voter attitudes towards President Biden’s infrastructure plan and the social investment package Democrats hope to pass using the reconciliation process.

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

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