A majority of voters have said they would back a political candidate who supports police funding and expanding US energy production, a new poll released Wednesday shows.
The two issues rank high on a list of attributes that would compel Americans to vote for a candidate, a new poll by NBC News shows less than eight months ahead of November’s midterm elections that will decide which party will win controlled by Congress.
When asked if they were more or less likely to “support a candidate that supports police funding and provides them with the resources and training they need to protect our communities,” 75 percent of respondents said they would would improve their chances. Only 11 percent said it was a diversion.
Bottom of the list is the issue of police defunding – 73 per cent said they would be less likely to support a candidate who repeats the progressive call and 17 per cent said it would help win their vote. That is a remarkable net difference of 56 percent.
And support for expanding domestic oil and gas production would make 69 percent of voters more likely to back a candidate, while 17 percent said they would be less inclined to do so.
It comes as gas prices in the US and Europe are soaring amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, exacerbating fuel costs that have already risen due to a sudden surge in demand as economies transition from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The poll suggests Americans are also sympathetic to the conflict — 31 percent more people said support for helping Ukraine with more guns would make a candidate more positive than those who said it would hurt the conflict.
The revealing new poll shows bipartisan issues like police defunding and the ouster of Roe v. Wade serve to alienate voters more than they attract them
What could be bad news for Democrats, however, is that both police funding and increasing domestic energy production are widely seen as Republican champions.
However, police defunding is not even a favorite rallying point for the left wing. Fifty-nine percent of Democratic voters said they were more likely to support a candidate who wants to better arm law enforcement.
Fifty-one percent of the same group said calls to disappoint the police would make them less likely to support someone running for office.
The third most popular attribute listed in the poll is support for President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal — which was pushed by moderate Democrats and Republicans. Progressives had attempted to stall the bill as Democratic leaders split it off from a larger social and climate spending agenda known as “Build Back Better.”
63 percent of respondents said supporting the bipartisan deal would make them more infatuated with a candidate, and 13 percent said the opposite.
Other issues with a positive net voter rating include support for reducing the cost of health care and prescription drugs and for upholding the Roe v. Wade enshrined abortion rights.
Meanwhile, a 58 percent majority of respondents would be put off by a candidate who wanted the landmark Supreme Court case overturned.
Americans also seem largely unimpressed – and in some cases even repelled – by the support of national figures from both parties.
In what could perhaps be a curveball for congressional 2022 hopefuls, more voters told NBC they were less likely to vote for a candidate with the backing of Donald Trump or President Joe Biden.
Forty-two percent of people said they were less likely to vote for a Biden-backed candidate, while 47 percent said the same about Trump.
However, slightly more people said they would be inclined to vote for a Trump-backed politician — 33 percent — than the 30 percent who said Biden’s approval could get them on board.
Even fewer people said they would be persuaded to vote for a candidate who believes Trump’s allegations of voter fraud in 2020. Just two in 10 voters said believing the ex-president won the last election would propel them towards a candidate, compared with a 58 per cent majority who said doing so would do the opposite.
Newer, more partisan figures in Washington are even more polarizing.
Endorsements from national Republican and Democratic figures — including hot-headed Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) — tend to distract from a potential candidate
Just 22 percent of survey respondents said endorsement by “Squad” member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) would make them endorse a candidate, while 39 percent said it would affect their desirability.
The gap is even wider when it comes to support for pro-Trump firefighters. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) goes.
Twenty-seven percent more people would be less likely to vote for a candidate they support than those who see it as a plus, by a 34 percentage point margin of seven.
Ocasio-Cortez is more popular with Democrats. Fifty-five percent of Democratic primary voters said their approval would make them more likely to vote for her.
Greene fails to win that kind of favor from members of her own party. 16 percent of Republican voters said they view their support positively, and 17 percent view it negatively.
The least preferred endorsement, however, is that of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
A whopping 48 percent of people said they would be less likely to vote for a McConnell-backed candidate, while just 10 percent said it would be a boost — a clear sign of the GOP’s future at a time when it was established figures are fighting for influence in the party’s pro-Trump faction.