Significantly more Americans trust Republicans with U.S. national security and policies that make the country more prosperous than they do Democrats, according to a new survey from Gallup.
By a margin of 50 percent to 41 percent, the survey found that respondents preferred the GOP when it comes to improving Americans’ economic positions, while another majority — 54 to 39 percent — believe the GOP is better at shoring up U.S. national security.
“[T]here has been a seven-point drop in the percentage of Americans who say the Democratic Party is better able to keep the U.S. prosperous, from 48% to 41%,” Gallup reported. “Now, 50% say the Republican Party is better, compared with 47% in 2020.
“The last time that at least half of U.S. adults said the Republicans were better at keeping the country prosperous was in 1989, although there have been several measures of 48% or 49% since then,” the polling firm added.
President Ronald Reagan left office in January 1989 after eight years of some of the most significant U.S. economic progress and growth in the history of the nation.
On the question of national security, Gallup asked: “Looking ahead for the next few years, which political party do you think will do a better job of protecting the country from international terrorism and military threats?”
“The 39% of Americans saying the Democratic Party will do a better job in the next few years of protecting the U.S. from terrorism and other international threats is down significantly from 46% last year,” the polling firm explained.
“[T]he 15-point gap in favor of the GOP this year is the largest since a 16-point advantage in 2015,” Gallup continued. “The party had an even larger 23-point gap in 2014, a time when the Obama administration was struggling to deal with the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and renewed Middle East violence, among other issues.”
Gallup noted that it has become clear the GOP scores better than Democrats on two important functions of government.
“Americans now generally see the Republican Party as better than the Democratic Party at handling two key government objectives — protecting citizens from international threats and promoting a strong economy,” the firm said, adding that success in next year’s midterms “hinges on the popularity of the incumbent president at the time of the election.”
“With Joe Biden in office and his approval rating slumping, unless it improves substantially over the next year, Republicans would likely gain seats in Congress in next year’s elections, and control of one or both chambers of Congress,” the polling company said.
Regarding Biden’s approval, a Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this month found his support cratering; just 38 percent of respondents said they are supportive of the president’s policies versus 53 percent who disapprove.
Also, Biden is slipping with a key demographic — Hispanics — over his border policies. As the migrant crisis grew and worsened after he took office and reversed a number of his predecessor’s enforcement policies, Biden’s approval among Hispanics, especially in Texas, has cratered. In April Quinnipiac reported that just 27 percent of Hispanics approved of Biden’s immigration policies.
“Though he gets generally positive numbers on his domestic strides as he nears his first 100 days in office, the president is confronting the same political quagmire south of the border that bedeviled his predecessor. The border with Mexico, and the people trying to cross it, loom as a familiar crisis,” stated Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy at the time.
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Originally from Indiana, she now calls sunny Florida her home.
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