by However, economic vibrations do not necessarily predict election results, and this campaign is different in many ways from those of the past. “We’re in an unprecedented situation where we’re weighing two incumbents,” said Joanne Hsu, who leads the Michigan poll.
Anthony Rice, a 54-year-old Democrat from eastern Indiana, and almost everyone he knows, he said, are doing well right now. Gas prices are down, jobs are plentiful, and Rice, a union dump truck driver, is benefiting directly from the infrastructure bill Biden signed in 2021. Yet few people in the deep red part of the country where he Lives will recognize it, Rice said.
“There are more people now who are working, have better jobs and are more likely to get better jobs than at any other time,” he said. “I don’t understand why they can’t see how good it is.”
Amber Wichowsky, a political scientist at Marquette University who has studied voters’ economic perceptions, said it was not surprising that many Americans were uncomfortable despite the strong economic data. The pandemic and its aftermath were deeply disruptive, she said, and it’s not surprising that it may take a while for things to feel normal again.
The question, Wichowsky said, is how much, if at all, voters’ opinions will change as the campaign gets underway in earnest. So far, Biden has made little apparent progress in promoting her economic message, but many voters still aren’t paying attention. In the coming months, the Biden campaign will also ramp up its sales efforts for the president’s economic record, including billions of dollars in infrastructure and clean energy spending, which will be easier to communicate as projects come into play. March.
