Welcome to The Closing Argument, we’ve decided to make some changes! New starting this week: Staff writer Kelsey Piper will be writing a short weekly take on one of her beats: AI or education. Read on!
The Verdict by Jerusalem Demsas
The topline finding from The Argument’s latest national poll of 1,549 registered voters, conducted Oct. 21-23, is that Republicans have completely debased themselves in the eyes of the voters.
Democrats are leading by 9 points among registered voters on the generic ballot (and by 11 among the likely electorate), and likely voters say Democrats will do a better job on the issues that are most important to them, 49% to 38%.
But approval ratings alone don’t tell us what voters think the parties actually represent. Here are some of my biggest takeaways.
Democrats listen to the groups; Republicans are in a cult of personality
We asked who party leaders listen to most when deciding what policies to support. For Republicans, the answer is Trump and wealthy donors, whereas for Democrats the top answer is lobbyists and interest groups. Just 24% say Democratic leaders listen to “people like me,” but that’s a good deal better than for Republicans (17%).