• Polling

More Americans Are Likely To Believe The Republican Party Poses A Threat To The Country

Tuesday, September 20, 2022 By Bryan Bennett
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Welcome to NAVIGATOR – a project designed to better understand the American public’s views on issues of the day and help advocates, elected officials, and other interested parties understand the language, imagery, and messaging needed to make and win key policy arguments.
Key takeaways
  • The Democratic Party is increasingly seen as focusing on the right things while Republicans are seen as more focused on the wrong things.
  • Among those who perceive the Republican Party as a threat, their top concerns are the party’s desire to ban abortions, their support for extremism and extreme groups like QAnon, and their support for political violence including the January 6th riot at the Capitol.
  • Biden and Democrats are more trusted on a range of issues that Americans think are most important for government to handle and protect.

Americans Increasingly View Democrats as Focused on the Right Things; View of Republicans Remain Underwater

Since early August, the share of independents saying Democrats are focused on the right things has increased by a net 18 points (from net -30 to net -12); independents continue to see Republicans as focused on the wrong things by a two-to-one margin (net -28).

Biden and Democrats More Trusted on Rights and Freedoms, Parties Tied on Safety and Security

Majorities of Black, Hispanic, and AAPI Americans trust Democrats over Republicans on both protecting rights and freedoms and safety and security, while white Americans trust Republicans more.

Majorities See Each Party as Posing a Threat to Country, Though Republican Party Poses Greater One

Among independents, 86% say the Republican Party poses a threat to the country today while 74% say the same of the Democratic Party.

Threats Posed by the Republican Party Come in the Form of Abortion Bans, Extremism, and Political Violence

For independents who see the Republican Party as a threat, abortion bans (37%) and putting special interests ahead of the middle class (37%) are the biggest Republican threats.

Biden and Democrats More Trusted on Most of the Issues Important to Americans for Government to Handle

Of the issues most important to Americans, Democrats are more trusted on “freedom to vote” (net D+7), protection from “price gouging by big corporations” (net D+9), and “wages and benefits” (net D+4), while Republicans are slightly more trusted on crime (net R+3).

 

About The Study

Global Strategy Group conducted public opinion surveys among a sample of 1,001 registered voters from September 8-September 11, 2022. 96 additional interviews were conducted among Hispanic voters. 76 additional interviews were conducted among Asian American and Pacific Islander voters. 100 additional interviews were conducted among African American voters. 99 additional interviews were conducted among independent voters.

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About Navigator

In a world where the news cycle is the length of a tweet, our leaders often lack the real-time public-sentiment analysis to shape the best approaches to talking about the issues that matter the most. Navigator is designed to act as a consistent, flexible, responsive tool to inform policy debates by conducting research and reliable guidance to inform allies, elected leaders, and the press. Navigator is a project led by pollsters from Global Strategy Group and GBAO along with an advisory committee, including: Andrea Purse, progressive strategist; Arkadi Gerney, The Hub Project; Joel Payne, The Hub Project; Christina Reynolds, EMILY’s List; Delvone Michael, Working Families; Felicia Wong, Roosevelt Institute; Mike Podhorzer, AFL-CIO; Jesse Ferguson, progressive strategist; Navin Nayak, Center for American Progress Action Fund; Stephanie Valencia, EquisLabs; and Melanie Newman, Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

For press inquiries contact: press@navigatorresearch.org