A new poll shows that, while the economy remains a bipartisan issue, Democrats and Republicans have differing priorities for the country in the new year.
According to a December poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, more Republicans named inflation, gas and food prices, energy and immigration among their top issues to prioritize. Democrats said the focus should be on health care, climate change, poverty, racism, abortion and women’s rights.
There was bipartisan agreement in a handful of areas, however. For instance, the poll found broad skepticism across party lines with about three-quarters disbelieving that progress would be made on any of the the issues the public cares about most. In both the poll results and in interviews with the AP, many people blamed their skepticism at least in part on hostile political divisions.
Further, about one-third of both Republicans and Democrats named the state of politics as a critical issue facing the country.
While it remains a top priority for Republicans, some 30% of all those polled considered inflation a high priority for the country, roughly twice the percentage from a year ago when the overall economy and Covid were top-of-mind, but down from 40% in June.
The new poll was released one day before the 118th Congress was set to convene with razor-thin margins separating the two parties in both the House and Senate.
