Poll: Economic woes causing young voters to seek alternative to Biden

Though typically a highly reliable voting block for Democratic candidates, recent polling suggests that young Americans are moving away from President Joe Biden due to concerns about the economy, as Just the News reports, potentially putting his reelection prospects in serious jeopardy.

The most recent evidence of this phenomenon came via an Emerson College poll indicating that among the younger demographic, 38% believe the economy to be the most critical issue in the coming presidential election.

Breaking things down even further by looking specifically at the under-30 crowd, pollsters asked participants to name their most pressing worries ahead of 2024, and some of the most frequently uttered responses were things such as “economy,” “inflation,” and “money.”

As to Biden's support in a broader sense, the poll found that in the 18-24 age group, the president stands at just 35% approval, though that metric ticks up to 41% in the 25-29 bracket.

The key takeaway from the survey, according to Emerson College Polling executive director Spencer Kimball, is that economic concerns are likely to drive the outcome in 2024, especially if Biden remains atop the Democratic Party ticket.

“The financial concerns and emotional strain among younger voters regarding the cost of living are influencing their perception of President Biden's leadership,” Kimball opined.

Regarding the impact of those sentiments on Biden's reelection hopes, Kimball added with regard to young voters, “Some are losing confidence, not necessarily shifting to Trump, but exploring third-party options.”

Emerson's polling was done between Dec. 4-6, included 1,000 participants, and featured a +/- 3 percentage-point margin of error.

As The Hill reports, the Emerson poll appears to mimic the sentiments of an even broader sampling of voters, with a recent CNN survey also suggesting that economic concerns are driving a decline in Biden's support.

The outlet pointed out that while Biden's approval hovered in the 50s when his term in office began and still sat in the mid-40s at the start of 2023, his numbers have since plummeted to 37%, dropping two points within the last month alone.

Tellingly, only about 33% of voters indicated their approval of Biden's approach to the economy, a three-point decline since October.

Similarly damning is the perception of 7 of 10 survey participants that economic conditions in the U.S. are presently poor, with 40% suggesting that the rising cost of living could force them to move from where they currently reside.

These opinions stand in stark contrast to the sort of economic policy successes the administration has been attempting to tout over the last several months through incessant references to “Bidenomics.”

Grudgingly acknowledging the failure of that messaging strategy, Democrats in large numbers have recently ceased their use of the term, but the lingering -- and often unpleasant -- financial realities for millions of American voters cannot be so easily erased.