
<p>In Part 1, I covered the latest polling based on the trust the American people have in basic institutions. ; The level of trust is generally low – especially in the governmental institutions. ; Congress comes in last with only 7 percent of the population expressing trust in the House and Senate.</p>



<p>In this commentary, I look at the issues in terms of voter sentiment as to which party they believe best handles the particular issue. ; ;</p>



<p>Here are the results.</p>



<p>Issue DEM REP SPREAD (D v. R)</p>



<p>Climate change 52 37 +15D</p>



<p>Abortion 50 42 +8D</p>



<p>Voting Rights 49 43 +6D</p>



<p>Pandemic 47 44 +3D</p>



<p>Gun policy 47 47 &#8212;</p>



<p>Protect Democracy 45 46 +1R</p>



<p>Foreign Policy 41 49 +8R</p>



<p>Crime 39 52 +13R</p>



<p>Inflation 36 55 +19R</p>



<p>Border Security 36 55 +19R</p>



<p>To see which Party may have an advantage, it is informative to rank them by voter preference as an election determinant. ; Virtually every poll lists inflation as the number one concern. ; That is where Republicans have a 19-point advantage over Democrats. ; The second issue in most polls is crime – and Republicans have a 13-point advantage in that on.</p>



<p>When you get to the third issue and beyond, the polls tend to diverge. ; The Covid Pandemic, Gun Policy, and Border Security are the most common in the third slot. ; President Biden and Democrats have a slight edge in handling the Pandemic – although within the margin of error.</p>



<p>In view of the criticism heaped on the GOP by the media in terms of gun policy, it is surprising to find that the voters evenly divide their trust between Democrats and Republicans. ; That is a blow to Democrats, who see that as one of their better campaign issues.</p>



<p>In terms of border security, Republicans have a 19-point lead over democrats. ; That is costing Democrats traditional votes along the southern border – especially among Latinos.</p>



<p>Most surveys place climate change, abortion, and voting rights further down the line as a voting determinant. ; That is more bad news for Democrats since those are the issues where voters tend to favor Democrats.</p>



<p>Another that stood out to me was protecting democracy. ; For more than two years the Democratic Party and the left-leaning media have been carrying on an unrelenting campaign &#8212; branding the GOP as the party of insurrection. ; They allege that handing government power to Republicans will bring about the fall of America’s democratic Republic. ; And yet, the voters in this survey give the GOP a 1-point edge in defending democracy – in the margin of error, of course. ; This suggests that all the media reports and all the hype of the Select Committee have only won over mostly predisposed Democrat voters.</p>



<p>The Democrats’ entire strategy to prevent a shellacking in the 2022 midterm elections is based on four issues – climate change, abortion, gun control, and that alleged insurrection. ; And it appears that there is not sufficient voter steam in any of them to sway the vote.</p>



<p>And with only weeks to go before the first voters start casting ballots.in mid-September, there is very little opportunity to change the political trajectory for this election. ; The only chance would be some VERY big bombshell surprise before election day. ; It has to be a surprise since there is nothing imaginable on the horizon at this moment that would be big enough to push Democrat candidates into the lead.</p>



<p>Some will disagree with my analysis. ; That is fair. ; We will have to see how things play out in November. ; For now, it is only an academic discussion.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Who do voters prefer … issue by issue (Part 2 of 2)
