Two all-important demographics, independents and women voters, are heavily breaking towards the Republican Party with just 21 days until the midterm elections.
According to a Monday New York Times/Siena College poll, independents, women, and independent women have massively shifted behind Republicans on the generic ballot since September. The poll sampled 792 registered voters from October 9-12 with a 4 point margin of error.
In just 30 days, independents have moved nine points in favor of Republicans, along with women (13 points) and independent women (32 points).
Republicans lead Democrats among independents by ten points and among independent women by 18 points.
The polling suggests independents and female voters have shifted their support behind Republicans in large part due to the Democrats’ record-high inflation and specifically soaring costs at the grocery store. According to Pew Research Center analysis, 80 percent of mothers say they are the primary grocery shopper for the household.
Mother and children bringing groceries home (Louise Beaumont/Getty)
Soaring costs at the grocery store are where inflation is most visible. From August to September, the price of food at home jumped 0.6 percent. Over the past 12 months, grocery prices have gone up 13 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found last week.
“Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 6.6 percent compared with a year ago,” Breitbart News’s John Carney reported on October 13. “That is the highest rate of core inflation since 1982, surpassing the recent 6.4 percent highs hit in February and March. For the month, core prices were up 0.6 percent.”
The soaring costs mean that after adjusting for inflation, wages are down $6,000, a Heritage Foundation study revealed. That’s an increase from an earlier estimate that put the decline in real wages at $4,200.
“People are just absolutely being crushed,” Heritage fellow E.J. Antoni told Fox Business. “It’s not the price of caviar and yachts that are driving these numbers. It’s necessities, it’s staples. It’s things like eggs, milk, flour, soup. These are things that are up 20 or 30 percent year-over-year.”
Americans blame President Joe Biden and the Democrats for inflation. A recent poll found 66 percent of independents believe Biden has “somewhat” or “strongly” mismanaged the economy. Only 27 percent of independents approve of Biden’s management of the economy.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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