In a recent Pew Research Center survey, citizens were asked about the main issues facing the United States, which political party would best solve them and what they think of the administration of Joe Biden, who has already announced that he will seek a second term in 2024. In essence, people are worried about inflation and bipartisanship, they take refuge in the Democrats or Republicans, depending on the issue, and they are unhappy with the president's management.
The survey was conducted as follows: 5,115 adults were surveyed between June 5 and June 11, 2023, and were asked a series of questions about the current state of the country. They are all members of the Center's American Trends Panel (ATP), an online panel that recruits people through a national random sampling of residents.
Inflation, healthcare costs and bipartisanship are the main issues
To begin with, survey participants identified inflation as the country's most critical issue. Sixty-five percent identified it as a"big problem," placing it first in the ranking, just above healthcare costs (64 %), bipartisanship (62 %) and drug addiction (61 %).
Slightly behind came gun violence (60%), violent crime (59%), tax deficits (56%) and moral values (56%).
Can Democrats or Republicans better handle these problems?
This group was then asked which political party they are closest to when considering and addressing the abovementioned topics. On the economy, crime and immigration, Republicans have an advantage over Democrats of 12 %, 10 % and 10 %, respectively.
They were also elected to handle international policy (8 % difference with the Democratic Party) and the fiscal deficit (4 %), an issue added to the national discussion during the debt ceiling debate.
Parity came when discussing gun policy, where 37 % opted for the Democrats' position, 36% for the Republican side, and 27% chose no side.
On the other hand, Democrats lead on education (4 % difference), LGBT policies (8 %), race (10 %), health care (12 %), abortion (12 %) and climate change (14 %).
Joe Biden's management
The president was not seen in a favorable light in the Pew Research Center poll: 62% disapprove of his work, while 35% view it favorably.
Demographically speaking, African-American adults are the only racial/ethnic group in which a majority approve of Biden's job (57 %), which contrasts with the thumbs down of the majority of Asians (51 %) and Hispanics (60 %). In addition, two-thirds of white adults also disapprove of the performance of the current leader of the free world.
"While majorities in all age groups disapprove of Biden's job performance, the proportion saying they strongly disapprove is much higher among adults 65 and older (47 %) than among those under 30 (34 %)," the poll added.
