Americans Continue to Trust Democrats More to Handle Pandemic & Support Biden’s Mask Plans
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Navigator Research released new polling showing Americans remain pessimistic on the state of the national economy: 73 percent said they would rate the state of the economy today as “not so good” or “poor,” compared with just one in four who said they would rate it as “excellent” or “good” (25 percent). Meanwhile, a majority of Americans (52 percent) feel “uneasy” about their personal financial situation (53 percent) while 42 percent say they feel “confident.” However, after Americans learn about Biden’s economic plan, they have stronger trust in Democrats’ ability to handle inflation.
Inflation remains a key issue. Since early January, there has been a 3-point increase in the share who say they are “very concerned” about the rate of inflation in the coming months (to 61 percent) and a 4-point increase in the share who say gas prices are going up “a lot” (to 67 percent).
After reading Biden’s economic plan, however, trust in Biden and Democrats to handle rising costs over Republicans improves by a net 10 points to a 9-point advantage (49 percent trust Biden/Democrats more versus 40 percent that trust Republicans more) and inflation by a net 6 points to a statistical draw (42 percent trust Biden/Democrats more versus 43 percent that trust Republicans more) when compared to their level of trust prior to reading the plan.
By a 32-point margin overall, there is broad support for Biden’s economic agenda, and support for his economic plan among independents rose 7 points (+15 to +22) since two weeks ago. Among the most popular elements of Biden’s plan were lowering drug prices, taxing the rich and corporations, and making childcare more affordable.
When it comes to the pandemic, polling shows seven in ten Americans have heard of the Biden administration’s new policies to distribute free coronavirus tests and N95 masks. Both initiatives earn significant bipartisan support, with 76 percent supporting the launching of this website and 69 percent in support of their plan to distribute 400 million free N95 masks to Americans.
Among Independents, President Biden and Democrats remain more trusted to handle pandemic-related issues by 28 points over Republicans. Among vaccinated Americans, the Republican focus on conspiracies and misinformation raises the most doubts on their approach to handling the pandemic.
There’s strong evidence passing his economic agenda would benefit the way Americans perceive President Biden. Independents become more likely to agree Biden has kept his campaign promises if his economic plan is passed (from 45 percent to 51 percent) while intensity of keeping his promises improves by 17 points among Democrats (from 35 percent who strongly agree to 52 percent) and 16 points among Black Americans (from 35 percent who strongly agree to 51 percent).
“It is clear Americans trust President Biden and Democrats in Congress to handle the pandemic more than Republicans, and if they can get his broadly popular economic agenda through Congress, the public will respond positively to their efforts,” said Bryan Bennett, Senior Director of Polling and Analytics at the Hub Project. “Congress and the administration should deliver on an economic agenda as soon as possible when Americans are clearly looking for action to be taken and promises to be fulfilled.”
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About Navigator Research
The Navigator Research project is designed to act as a consistent, flexible, responsive tool to inform policy debates. By conducting research and providing reliable guidance to inform allies, elected leaders, and the press, Navigator helps top leaders in Washington and grassroots leaders around the country shape the debate on the issues that matter most. Follow us on Twitter for the latest updates.
About the Study
Global Strategy Group conducted public opinion surveys among a sample of 1,000 registered voters from January 20 – January 24, 2021. 100 additional interviews were conducted among Hispanic voters. 75 additional interviews were conducted among Asian American and Pacific Islander voters. 100 additional interviews were conducted among African American voters. 100 additional interviews were conducted among independent voters. The survey was conducted online, recruiting respondents from an opt-in online panel vendor. Respondents were verified against a voter file and special care was taken to ensure the demographic composition of our sample matched that of the national registered voter population across a variety of demographic variables. The margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level is +/- 3.1 percent.