(The Center Square) – Presidential job approval and American economy confidence are not trending positively, a poll of North Carolina likely voters says.
From the same group, 4 in 10 say neither the federal government shutdown nor the lack of a two-year budget by the state has impacted their household.
“There is no doubt that voters are feeling the pinch of high consumer prices, a deeply divided political climate, and an uncertain job market,” said Donald Bryson, CEO of the John Locke Foundation and publisher of poll author Carolina Journal. “Elected officials need to work on kitchen-table issues if they want to see an improvement in American morale. Groceries move the ballot box.”
Second-term Republican President Donald Trump, with approval rating of 49.5% from the pollster in March and 49.4% in September, was down to 45.7%. The disapproval rating is 52.8%, nearly 4% worse than September.
Asked “How do you feel about the state of the U.S. economy?”, 58.3% were not confident and 39.6% (30.4% somewhat, 9.2% very) had some level of confidence.
Respondents assessing their household finances said they were good (37.4%) or fair (34.4%) much more than being poor (13.2%) or very poor (4.2%). There were 9.5% saying excellent.
Asked which had the greater impact, the federal government shutdown or lack of a state budget, 39.8% chose “neither has affected me personally,” 25.6% chose both equally, 21.4% chose the shutdown, and 5.9% chose the state budget. Blame for the shutdown went 24.7% to both; there was 38% to Democrats and 33.8% to Republicans.
Harper Polling helped conduct the sampling for the Carolina Journal among 600 likely voters on Sunday and Monday. The margin of error is +/- 4% and the confidence level is 95%.
