As the midterm elections loom, the latest polling from Gallup shows that inflation continues to top the lists of Americans' concerns, bad news for President Biden and the Democrats who will have to face voters at the ballot box in November.
"Roughly one in five Americans mention the high cost of living/inflation (17%), or fuel prices (4%) specifically, as the most important problem facing the U.S. today," Gallup reported Tuesday in its release highlighting how inflation "dominates" concerns Americans have this month.
Together, inflation that's reached four-decade highs under Biden's leadership along with an all-time high for gas prices "account for over half of the economic issues that 35% of Americans cite as the nation's top problem," Gallup noted. "Within that group, 11% identify the economy in general as the chief problem."
And concern about inflation has been accelerating among Americans as sustained increases in the prices for consumer goods grow more unavoidable over time. Inflation wasn't reported as an issue by Americans polled by Gallup through 2020, but in 2021 as Biden's economic policy took hold and prices continued to spike within months of his swearing-in, Americans felt the hit their wallets were taking.
Now, with the midterm elections now just more than six months away, the percentage of Americans who cited it as the "most important" problem "increased more in the past month — seven percentage points to 17% — than in any month since the upward trend began."
What's more, historical survey data from Gallup shows that concern about inflation is "more top-of-mind than it's been in over three decades" — matching the level of inflation that was last seen this high in the 1980s.
When asked about their concern about a number of issues facing Americans today, more said they had a "great deal" of concern about inflation and the economy than crime and violence, the quality of the environment, race relations, drug use, or the possibility of future terrorist attacks in the U.S.
Making the midterm picture more dire for Democrats is the party breakdown of concerns over inflation. "By contrast there is a 44-percentage-point gap in worry about inflation between Republicans (79%) and Democrats (35%)," Gallup noted, "with political independents' level of worry (63%) closer to Republicans'."
And there's the problem for Democrats up for election this November who may not be able to count on support from independents who grow increasingly worried about inflation and the future economic health of the United States — it's those independent votes that Democrats in tight races depend on to prevail against Republican challengers.
The trending increase in concern over inflation doesn't seem like it's set to subside soon, either. According to Gallup, "Americans have grown more pessimistic about the economy over the past month, with 75% now saying conditions are getting worse, up from 70% in February and 67% in January" while "Americans' outlook for the economy is now about tied with the most negative it has been since the early days of the pandemic in April 2020."
Not quite the "build back better" results Biden and his party promised Americans in 2020.
