AMAC Exclusive – By Shane Harris
In a stark indication of just how dramatically the American public has soured on the administration of President Joe Biden, a new scientific opinion poll conducted by the Trafalgar Group for AMAC, sampling 1,078 likely voters nationwide, finds that a majority of Americans say the Biden administration cares “much less” about the middle class than previous administrations.
While in recent months the media has pushed the narrative of a Democratic “resurgence” and a budding recovery for President Biden, the AMAC poll’s findings suggest that on the contrary, the relationship between the Biden administration and the American electorate may be irreparably broken.
The inaugural AMAC Newsline opinion poll was conducted from September 21-26 and has a margin of error of 2.9 percent. The Trafalgar Group was one of the few polling organizations that correctly predicted the outcome of the 2016 presidential contest and was also among the most accurate pollsters in 2020.
“We wanted a survey that sampled beyond our membership and found out what Americans of every demographic group were thinking,” said AMAC Chief Executive Officer Rebecca Weber. “Coming right at the moment when the public was beginning to focus on the election and seemed to be deepening its disfavor toward Biden, the poll casts important light on the issues and groups that made it happen.” Further results from the AMAC Newsline poll will be released in the coming days.
When asked “Do you feel the Biden Administration cares more or less about the middle class than the previous administrations?” 51.5 percent of respondents answered “much less,” compared to 3 percent who said “somewhat less,” 11.4 percent who said “somewhat more,” and 31.7 percent who said “much more.”
The intensity of the public’s alienation would be alarming for any president. But for a leader who based his entire campaign on appeals to his own supposed “empathy” just two years ago, the fact that a majority now believe Biden and his lieutenants care drastically less than their predecessors about ordinary Americans represents a stunning rejection of President Biden’s political identity. In 2020, numerous media outlets declared that Biden’s “empathy” was what defined him. Democrats even made this point the theme of their convention, with one speaker after another touting the career politician’s ostensible ability to feel Americans’ pain.
Today, however, it is clear the public isn’t buying it—perhaps because they have watched Democrats put the priorities of the radical left over those of the American people on issue after issue, from energy and the economy to the border and crime. This sense of growing contempt is likely one of the hidden factors driving Democrats down in the polls and jeopardizing their congressional majorities this fall.
A breakdown of the AMAC survey paints an even grimmer picture for the administration, particularly compared to the historic makeup of the Democrat coalition. Roughly equal percentages of men and women (51.6 percent and 51.4 percent, respectively) said they believe Biden cares “much less” about the middle class. Women – particularly middle class, suburban women – were key to Biden’s performance two years ago, and also helped deliver down-ballot races for Democrats. But it now appears that the “empathy gap” has erased the “gender gap”.
When broken down by age, the only group among which a majority said Biden cares “much more” about the middle class were respondents aged 18-24 – traditionally the group most likely to vote Democratic, and also the only cohort too young to remember many prior administrations. Among the age group statistically most likely to be a part of the middle class (45-64) 56.4 percent said Biden cares “much less” – the highest of any age bracket.
Unsurprisingly, Biden earned poor marks from Republicans, with 79.7 percent saying he cares “much less.” But even 21.7 percent of Democrats and, crucially, 54.7 percent of Independents said the Biden administration cares “much less” about the middle class than prior administrations.
More alarming for Democrat strategists, the AMAC poll confirmed the trend detected by mainstream media outlets in recent weeks, showing a significant deterioration in support for Biden among African Americans. While 65 percent of Blacks said the administration cares “much more” about the middle class than previous ones, fully 20 percent said the Biden administration cares “much less”—a significant fracturing of a key Democrat voting bloc.
Perhaps most catastrophically for Biden, a whopping 61 percent of Hispanics and 66.8 percent of Asians said Biden cares “much less” about the middle class, adding more support for the theory of a growing exodus from the Democratic Party among Hispanic and Asian voters. Just 21.9 percent of Hispanics and zero Asian respondents said the administration cares “much more.”
“There’s no question that senior citizens, and especially AMAC members, want a nation that’s built on freedom, and a nation that’s safe,” said Weber. “The full results of this nationwide poll show that the concerns that motivate our members are also widely shared by a broad cross-section of American voters—young and old, male and female, Hispanic, Black, Asian, and White.”
What could be driving the American public’s sense that the Biden administration does not care about them? As further results from the AMAC Newsline poll will show, the Biden administration has spent the last two years pursuing policies and priorities that are wildly out of touch with mainstream America. Combined with the meltdown these policies have caused in the global economy and security environment—and Biden’s continual refusal to acknowledge responsibility or change course—that’s apparently enough to alienate countless Americans, including millions of traditional Democrat voters.
Shane Harris is a writer and political consultant from Southwest Ohio. You can follow him on Twitter @Shane_Harris_.