Americans unimpressed by ideas from both major parties
Washington, D.C., July 27, 2026 – With the fall midterm elections on the horizon, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted July 24-26 finds that Americans offer tepid ratings of the ideas put forth by both the Republican and Democratic parties.
Fewer than half of Americans (39%) say the Democratic Party has a lot or some good ideas; a somewhat larger share says the party has a few or almost no good ideas (46%). Assessments of the Republican Party are nearly identical: 39% say the GOP has a lot or some good ideas, compared with 45% who say the party has a few or almost no good ideas. These findings underscore a midterm contest in which both major parties are struggling to connect with large segments of the American public.
When it comes to which party could better handle top issues, the Republican and Democratic parties run about even on the economy: 32% prefer the Republican Party’s approach, while 31% prefer that of the Democratic Party. This represents a sizable shift in views since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, when Americans preferred the Republican Party over the Democratic Party on the economy by nearly two-to-one.
The two parties are evenly matched on several other leading issues, including corruption, political violence and extremism, and war and foreign conflicts. Still, each party has its own areas of strength: the Democratic Party holds a slight edge on the cost of living and is seen as better on healthcare and on democratic values and norms. The Republican Party holds a slight edge on immigration and is seen as better on crime.
As democratic socialists draw increased attention across the nation, 60% of Americans say they have heard a lot or a little about candidates who identify as democratic socialists winning elections this year. When asked to evaluate the ideas of leaders who identify as democratic socialists, 27% of Americans say they have a lot or some good ideas, compared with 51% who say they have a few or almost no good ideas (20% say they are unsure).
Democrats hold generally positive views of democratic socialists: 53% say democratic socialist leaders have a lot or some good ideas. Still, Democrats give higher ratings to the ideas of the Democratic Party (75% of Democrats say it has a lot or some good ideas).
This poll also includes updated measures of public attitudes toward the Iran war. Americans remain far more likely to disapprove than approve of U.S. military strikes in Iran (62% vs. 33%), while a majority (69%) say President Trump has not clearly explained the goals of U.S. military involvement in Iran.
Amid widespread concern about risk to lives of American military personnel, the idea of ground troops remains deeply unpopular: 79% say they oppose sending U.S. ground troops to Iran, compared with 16% who favor this action. Taken together, the findings suggest broad public skepticism toward expanding the U.S. military engagement in Iran.
See topline for full results.
About the Study
This Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted July 24-26, 2026, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,248 general population adults aged 18 or older.
The study was conducted in English. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race and ethnicity, census region, metropolitan status, education, household income, 2024 vote choice and political party identification. Political party identification benchmarks are from the 2025 NPORS annual survey, with a midyear adjustment estimated across aggregated KnowledgePanel surveys accounting for changes in panelists’ party identification over time. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2025 March supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS).
- Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
- Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
- Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or higher)
- Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
- Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
- Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
- 2024 Vote Choice (Trump, Harris, Another candidate, Did not vote)
- Political Party ID (Democrat, Lean Democrat, Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Something else)
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.06. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Alec Tyson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]
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