During a Tuesday morning appearance on NBC’s “Today Show,” NBC data expert Steve Kornacki discussed the midterms and explained why Republicans are poised to do well in the upcoming November elections.
“We talked about the economy and inflation being important issues. How about this? This is a ‘New York Times poll,’ brand new here, asking voters what’s the top issue on your mind this election? I haven’t seen it this dramatic in a poll. Add the economy and inflation together, that is 44%,” Kornacki told host Savannah Guthrie.
“We’re getting close to half of all respondents in this poll saying that’s their top issue,” Kornacki continued. “Nothing else even cracks 10% right now. And we’ve talked about the Republicans, when it comes to the economy and inflation, having a pretty clear advantage in the polls.”
Twenty-six percent of voters considered the economy the top issue, over a quarter of respondents, while 18% believed that inflation and the cost of living was the highest concern, cited a poll conducted by the New York Times and Siena College. In another poll, for CBS News, 48% of respondents said they believed Democratic policies had harmed the economy.
Kornacki then cited the RealClearPolitics average, discussing the generic ballot for Congress, to show that Republicans were gaining support. The aforementioned CBS News poll showed a two-point GOP lead, while another poll, from Harvard/Harris, showed a six-point lead for Republicans, a Trafalgar survey showed a five-point lead and a Rasmussen poll showed a seven-point lead for the GOP.
“We were here a week ago taking you through the generic ballot, and a week ago this number was inside of one point,” Kornacki said. “You had the inflation news over the last week, certainly didn’t help the Democrats, and it seems as the economy moves to center stage Republicans are improving chances here.”
Guthrie also noted some Republican candidates, like Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, had been proposing solutions to the crime crisis and that those efforts were paying off.
“This is Wisconsin, one of the key Senate races, Ron Johnson, two-term Republican incumbent. He leads in the polling average over his Democratic challenger, now Johnson has been leaning heavily on crime,” Kornacki said.
“Interesting poll out that came out of Wisconsin this week, they ask things differently. They basically ask are these issues important to you? That’s what’s asked here. Inflation tops the list, but look at crime. It’s close to 90%. I think also striking, abortion is under 80%. Republicans running heavily on crime, Democrats running heavily on abortion and it looks like in this Wisconsin race, crime may have more resonance than abortion.”
