Poll: 72% Think the U.S. Is Headed in the 'Wrong Direction'

A new NBC News poll reveals news that Joe Biden and the Democrats probably don’t want to hear.

The poll says that 72% of adults believe the U.S. is on the “wrong track.” The “right track/wrong track” question is an excellent barometer of the national mood. The “wrong track” number has only been above 70% three other times; 1992, 2008, and 2016 — all election years and all years in which the party in power got clobbered on election day.

A whopping 61% of respondents said their family’s income is falling behind the cost of living, compared to the 30% who say they are about even. Only 7% say their income is going up faster than the cost of living.

NBC News:

“Downhill, divided, doubting democracy, falling behind, and tuning out — this is how Americans are feeling as they’re heading into 2022,” said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies.

That pessimism and gloom isn’t helping the party in control of the White House and Congress.

While the poll shows Democrats enjoying a narrow 1 point advantage over Republicans as the party that should control Congress, it also shows President Joe Biden’s job approval rating remaining in the low 40s, Republicans holding a double-digit edge in enthusiasm and key Democratic groups losing interest in the upcoming election.

Democrats might say, “Well, it’s a long way to November.” Actually, it isn’t. In fact, these numbers are likely to worsen if Russia throws a party in Ukraine and that “temporary” inflation keeps rising.

With fewer than 300 days until the November midterm elections, the NBC News poll finds 47 percent of registered voters saying they prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress, while 46 percent want Republicans in charge.

That’s essentially unchanged from October, when Democrats held a 2 point edge on this question, 47 percent to 45 percent.

But Republicans enjoy a double-digit advance on enthusiasm ahead of November’s elections, with 61 percent of Republicans saying they are very interested in the upcoming midterms — registering their interest either as a 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale — compared with 47 percent of Democrats who say the same.

In previous midterm cycles — whether 2006, 2010, 2014 or 2018 — the party that held a double-digit advantage in enthusiasm ended up making substantial gains.

Biden and the Democrats believe they can turn things around if they pass the $2 trillion Build Back Better bill and voting rights legislation. After passing more than $4 trillion in stimulus already, do they really think another $2 trillion is going to turn things around for them?

And the enthusiasm of black voters won’t be reignited because of the passage of a partisan voting measure. It may excite the radical activists, but ordinary voters will largely ignore it.

Democratic delusions got the country into this mess. And Democratic delusions won’t get us out of it.