GOP leads Dems by double-digits on economic issues: Poll

Most Americans don’t like the state of the economy and more Americans say Republicans are better equipped to fix it, a new poll finds. 

The CNBC All-America Economic Survey released Thursday found that only 16% of registered voters say the economy is excellent or good, while a whopping 83% say it is fair or poor. 

Meanwhile, only 27% expect the economy to improve in the next year, with 45% expecting it to get worse. The results are the third-most pessimistic in the 14-year history of the CNBC survey, with the top two recorded in July of this year and October of last year.

Republicans also trounced Democrats on several key economic questions, according to the survey. 

On the issue of which party would better control inflation, Republicans have a 15-point lead among registered voters, 42% to 27%; on dealing with taxes, the GOP leads 40% to 29%; on reducing the deficit, Republicans came in at 36% compared to 25% for Democrats; and on creating jobs, Republicans beat Democrats 43% to 33%.

Democrats narrowly polled ahead of Republicans on the question of which party is better at “looking out for the middle class,” 42% to 38%, but CNBC notes that the margin is down from the 12-point lead they enjoyed in that category in 2018.  

On the generic congressional ballot, Republicans led Democrats by two percentage points, 48% to 46%.

The survey also measured President Biden’s overall approval rating and found that it has improved by 10 percentage points since July, coming in at 46% approving and 50% disapproving. The improvement came mainly from larger Democratic support.

Pollsters from both parties noted in CNBC’s release of the survey that the economic numbers remind them of  2014, when the GOP retained the House and took control of the Senate in that year’s midterm elections.

“We tested a number of economic issues and Republicans just kind of ran the table, all except for on the cost of health care,” said Micah Roberts of Republican pollster Public Opinion Strategies. “If this election were just about the economy, which we know it’s not, but if it were just about the economy, this would be a complete shellacking.”

“The way things are moving overall and the way things look, it’s definitely more of an uphill climb for Democrats and maybe slightly slanted downwards for Republicans,” concurred Jay Campbell of Democratic pollster Hart Research.

The CNBC poll’s findings are similar to other recent surveys on how Americans view the economy and their top issues ahead of the Nov. 8 elections. 

A  Morning Consult/Politico survey released Wednesday found that a staggering 93% of registered voters say they are “concerned” with inflation, with 71% “very concerned.” The poll also found 60% of registered voters believe inflation, which has soared to 40-year highs, is getting worse. 

A New York Times-Siena College poll released Monday also showed the economy and inflation were the most important issues to a combined 44% of likely voters — part of a larger shift toward Republicans just three weeks before Election Day.

The CNBC All-America Economic Survey polled 800 registered voters between Oct. 13 and Oct. 16. The margin of error is plus-or-minus 3.5 percentage points.