About half of rural American voters believe the economy is worse off now than when President Donald Trump returned to office, according to a new survey that points to economic frustration among a key group that has backed him and other Republicans in recent elections.
The Associated Press, in partnership with KFF, polled more than 2,000 rural registered voters and found broadly negative views of the national and local economies, including among many Republicans. The costs of groceries, gas and healthcare rank as top pain points for the rural voters, who were surveyed over two weeks starting in mid-August. A larger share than among voters overall say they are worried about being able to afford groceries or gas.
At the same time, about half of rural voters approve of Trump’s job performance, more than among U.S. adults overall in separate AP-NORC polling.
The findings suggest that many rural voters have not turned on Trump but that they also largely do not think he has delivered the economic renaissance he promised in his campaign.
Ed Westrick, a registered Republican and veteran, rates Trump’s job performance as “mediocre, middle-of-the-road.” Westrick, who lives in rural Texas, is not sure he will cast a midterm ballot, a troubling sign for Republicans in a key state in their fight to keep control of Congress.
Rural Americans skew Republican and historically have been an instrumental group of voters for Trump. The survey reveals that while rural voters seem unlikely to support Democrats on a large scale, Trump and the Republican Party could face challenges with them in November.
Rural voters are deeply unhappy about the economy
As the election approaches, only about 4 in 10 rural voters approve of Trump’s performance on the economy. They rate him similarly on his handling of the Iran war, an entanglement that has proved expensive for the U.S. and increased oil and gas prices. Rural voters rank pocketbook concerns and fraud in government programs higher among the things they want to hear about from politicians than other perennial issues, such as gun policy and abortion.
This means about half of rural American voters believe the economy is no worse off now than when Trump returned to office.
It’s the “This is fine!” crowd….
Rural Americans skew Republican and historically have been an instrumental group of voters for Trump
The exception being 08 Obama…
Despite his skin tone, just by simply not being a neoliberal (yet) and having a slightly above average amount of charisma he flipped a bunch of red state by energizing the people who don’t vote because Republicans always win their elections.
Rural people hate neoliberals, but so do most urban people. If Dems don’t insist on shoving neoliberals down the country’s throat, it’s incredibly easy to beat Republicans.
Luckily the voting members of the DNC know that and picked a chair that won’t rig primaries.
