In the wake of the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, persistent inflation, poor job performance data, and a prolonged pandemic, Americans have higher confidence in the Republican Party to promote international security and domestic prosperity than the Democratic Party.
After nearly a year of Democratic-dominated federal governance, the competence rating for the GOP has soared in these two policy areas, a boost driven mainly by independents, according to a recent Gallup poll conducted September 1-17.
The independent voting bloc has unsurprisingly steered the shift in favorability, given that each respective party believes it is superiorly equipped to maintain our economic prowess and protect the country from dangers abroad. Democrats suffered a 12 percent plummet among independents both on the international security front and prosperity issue since last year.
Support for the Republican party among independents in these domains has expanded but not as broadly as their support for the Democrats has contracted. There has been an eight-point increase among independents who say the GOP is better prepared to keep America prosperous (from 43 percent to 51 percent) and a five-point increase in optimism for Republicans defending the nation (from 48 percent to 53 percent).
While 54 percent of respondents trust the GOP more to keep the nation safe from international threats, a 4-point increase from last year, only 39 percent believe the same of the Democratic Party, a seven-point drop from last year.
The GOP’s competitive advantage has improved along economic lines as well. While only 41 percent of Americans have faith in the Democratic party’s ability to sustain a robust economy, a seven-point decline from last year, the Republican Party now enjoys 50 percent approval on that metric, a three-point uptick from last year.
On prosperity, Republicans fell out of favor and lost their rating lead only in 2012 and 2020 when Democratic candidates were elected president but recovered the ground in the interim periods, roughly corresponding with midterm elections and Republican executives assuming office.
For instance, the current nine-point lead for Republicans for fostering a strong economy was only matched in 2011 and 2014, the latter of which was marked by a red sweep in the midterm elections.
Something to Consider
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Source: National Review
