A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll contains grim numbers for the Biden administration:
More than three-quarters of Americans (77 percent) say inflation is affecting their lives as the holiday season begins, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll — and a clear majority (57 percent) blame President Biden.
This comparison is striking:
The survey of 1,696 U.S. adults, which was conducted from Nov. 17 to 19, also found that more of them selected inflation as the “most important issue facing America” (17 percent) than any other issue, including COVID-19 (15 percent), which continues to kill more than 1,100 Americans each day, on average.
Poll respondents both blame Joe Biden for inflation, and believe he isn’t doing enough to combat it:
And just 18 percent say Biden is doing enough to address it.
As noted above, 57% of respondents said that Joe Biden deserves “a great deal” (39%) or “some” (18%) of the responsibility for the rising cost of living. When asked who or what deserves “the most” blame, 35% said Biden while 30% said the COVID epidemic.
As with all polls these days, partisan divisions are stark. Still, the cost of living issue is particularly dangerous for Democrats because concern is by no means limited to Republicans:
[I]nflation worries aren’t merely partisan. Nearly 7 in 10 Democrats (69 percent) say inflation affects their lives at least “some” — not all that many less than the number of independents (79 percent) and Republicans (90 percent) who say the same. A quarter of Democrats (25 percent) and more than a third of independents (38 percent) say inflation affects them a “great deal.” …
And while nearly all Republicans (90 percent) and two-thirds of independents (65 percent) assign Biden at least some blame for inflation, more than 1 in 4 Democrats (28 percent) do as well.
That roughly matches the number of Democrats who say the president is not doing enough about inflation (25 percent) or shortages (27 percent). Perhaps even worse, less than half of Democrats say Biden is doing enough (39 percent and 43 percent, respectively), while about a third (36 percent and 31 percent) say they’re not sure — hardly a vote of confidence from the president’s own party.
So far, there is no sign that the Biden administration intends to significantly change any of the policies that are now driving up the cost of living. They are not encouraging domestic production of oil and gas, and their massive spending plans and accompanying deficits will inevitably drive inflation. So, while supply chain problems presumably will be ironed out eventually, the cost of living promises to remain an important issue for some time to come.
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