UNITED STATES - According to a poll conducted by NBC News, voters overwhelmingly trust Republicans to do a better job than Democrats in regards to border security, crime, economy and immigration.
The same poll shows that voters trust Democrats more on issues of abortion COVID-19, education and healthcare, but it is less of an edge. The poll also showed that both parties nearly tied on protecting democracy and looking out for the middle class. They say the GOP advantage is the highest recorded in over 30 years of NBC polling- but still at about the same level it was in September 2022.
Specifically, the poll says 50 percent of voters feel the Republican Party is better at dealing with border security, compared to 20 percent who said the Democratic Party does it better. For crime, 46 percent say that Republicans do a better job, while once again 20 percent say Democrats.
The organization says that, for the topics where Democrats have the edge, 45 percent say that they are better with abortion, compared to 22 percent for Republicans, and 46 percent for healthcare, compared 28 percent for the Republicans.
“On this survey after 20 or 30 years, Republicans dealing with the economy (versus Democrats), immigration and crime are all at their all-time highs,” said Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, who conducted this poll alongside Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt and his team at Hart Research.
“The other thing that is maybe not expected is these phrases, ‘protecting our constitutional rights’ and ‘protecting democracy.’ These are things where overall the electorate thinks Republicans are more focused and would do a better job than Democrats,” McInturff added.
NBC News says that the numbers show a population that has become deeply dissatisfied with the performance of president Joe Biden, but are still seriously concerned with his most-likely rival in next year's election, former president Donald Trump.
Officials say one alarming trend that appeared in the poll was a dramatic drop in Democratic voters in whether or not their party looked out for the middle class. The numbers are 34 percent for Republicans and 36 percent for Democrats, and though Democrats still have a two-point lead, that number is still the lowest it has been in the history of the poll. Comparing these numbers to the results in 2018, the last time this question was on the poll, Democrats had an eight-point advantage.
“The Democrats that have held over 30 years as high as a 29-point advantage as being the party better able to deal with and handle issues of concern to the middle class,” McInturff said. “As you talk about, ‘What’s the demonstrable proof that the Democrats are no longer as strongly positioned as the party of the middle class?’ It’s watching… a 19 point lead [in 2012] evaporate to two points [today].”
NBC News notes that, while voters will tend to claim their party does a better job with each issue, results from independent and swing voters almost always line up with these statistics. Specifically, they say independent voters tended to agree that Republicans are better at dealing with the economy, crime, border security, immigration, protecting democracy and protecting constitutional rights.
The organization says two categories where moderates differed from the statistics are protecting constitutional rights and protecting democracy, with Democrats coming out on top despite Republicans coming out on top with affiliated voters. They say moderates made up 34 percent of the people polled.
According to NBC News, the poll consisted of 1,000 registered voters.