Ipsos Core Political Survey: Presidential Approval Tracker (11/02/2022)
Washington, DC, November 2, 2022 – Less than a week before the midterm elections, Americans remain pessimistic about the direction the country is headed in. Over half of Americans want President Biden to prioritize handling the economy and approval of his performance in office is at 40%.
Detailed Findings
The majority of Americans (69%) believe things in this country are off on the wrong track, while 18% believe things are headed in the right direction. Republicans (85%) and independents (78%) are most likely to believe things in this country are off on the wrong track but 51% of Democrats believe so as well.
The economy (30%) continues to be the most important issue facing the country today. The end of national abortion rights (8%), the healthcare system (7%), and the environment and climate (7%) round out the top four.
A plurality of Republicans (43%), independents (29%), and Democrats (22%) believe the economy is the most important issue facing the country today. However, for Democrats the environment and climate (14%) and the end of national abortion rights (12%) are the second and third most important issues, while for Republicans immigration (9%) is in second place, followed by a two-way tie between morality (7%) and crime or corruption (7%) for third place. Finally, for independents crime or corruption (13%) is in second place followed by a two-way tie between the healthcare system (9%) and the end of national abortion rights (9%) for third place.
Approval of President Joe Biden’s performance in office is at 40% this week.
Seventy-eight percent of Democrats approve of President Biden’s performance in office, but only 31% of independents and 12% of Republicans approve.
Americans want President Biden to prioritize handling the economy (58%), followed by employment and jobs (23%). International trade (3%) and COVID-19 (6%) are the lowest priorities.
All partisans want President Biden to prioritize handling the U.S. economy first, but after that Democrats want Biden to prioritize the environment (26%) while Republicans want him to prioritize immigration (28%) and independents want him to prioritize employment and jobs (28%).
A plurality of Americans approve of the way President Biden has been handling COVID-19 (50%), the environment (43%), racial inequality (42%), and employment and jobs (41%). They are least likely to approve of his work on corruption (31%) and immigration (33%).
Democrats are most likely to approve of President Biden’s handling of the issues, particularly COVID-19 (79%), employment and jobs (73%), racial inequality (73%), and the environment (72%). Meanwhile, most Republicans disapprove of the way Biden has been handling things, particularly the economy (10%), immigration (12%), unifying the country (12%), and international trade (12%).
When considering who they will vote for in the upcoming midterm elections, one-third of Americans say they are most likely to vote for the Democratic candidate (37%), while 36% say the Republican candidate. Eleven percent say they will not or do not plan to vote and 12% say they don’t know. Only 4% say they are planning to vote for a candidate from another party. As expected, the overwhelming majority of Democrats (88%) and Republicans (86%) say they will vote for a candidate from their own party. Meanwhile, independents are divided between voting for the Democratic candidate (21%), Republican candidate (21%), not knowing who to vote for (22%), and not planning to vote (23%).
About the Study
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between October 31-November 1, 2022. For this survey, a sample of 1,004 Americans age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were interviewed online in English. The sample includes 455 Democrats, 355 Republicans, and 127 independents. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Americans been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. The poll also has a credibility interval of ± 5.6 percentage points for Democrats, ± 6.4 percentage points for Republicans, and ± 10.7 percentage points for independents.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]
Annaleise Lohr
Director, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]
About Ipsos
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