NYT/Siena Poll Suggests Political Environment Turning Toward Republicans

Is the national political environment turning toward the Republican Party once again? Today’s New York Times/Siena College poll of likely voters suggests that the answer is an emphatic “Yes.”

The poll shows that 49 percent of likely voters said they planned to vote for a Republican to represent them in Congress on Nov. 8, compared with 45 percent who planned to vote for a Democrat. The result represents an improvement for Republicans since September, when Democrats held a one-point edge among likely voters in the last Times/Siena poll.

Why? Because Americans don’t like their Democratic president, and they aren’t happy with the status quo. Biden’s approve–disapprove is 39–58, and 45 percent of likely voters “strongly disapprove” of the way he is “handling his job.” The right track–wrong track numbers are 24–64. And what respondents care about — despite all that talk of “Roevember” — is the bad economy. Twenty-six percent of respondents said that “the economy (including jobs, stock market)” was the most important issue. Eighteen percent said that “inflation or the cost of living” is. Just five percent said abortion is. That’s a split of 44–5.