NO CONFIDENCE:  New polling shows a strong belief by Americans, across the political spectrum, that their leaders no longer represent their beliefs and values.  This is not good.  From Issues and Insights: 

Washington, you have a problem, and elected officials should take note: Regardless of party affiliation, those who elected you no longer have faith in the idea that you actually represent them, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows.

It’s no surprise that many voters are turned off by the political class these days. As repeated polls show, voters from both parties agree that the results of recent years from Washington have been less than stellar. And the voters feel Washington is divorced from their everyday concerns.

In the most recent online I&I/TIPP Poll, taken Jan. 4-6 from 1,107 registered voters across the country, we asked voters two questions about their elected officials in Washington.

In the first we asked simply: “In general, do you believe that elected officials in Washington represent MOSTLY the views and values of … ” with the choices being “their constituents,” “big donors,” or “not sure.”

The answer was overwhelming and doesn’t bode well for official Washington. Two-thirds (66%) said elected officials represent mostly the views and values of their big donors, not average Americans. Just 16% said they felt their elected officials represented their constituents. Another 18% said they weren’t sure.

When it comes to the politics of those who took the poll, which has a margin of error of +/-3.0 percentage points, this was one of the most uniform responses in I&I/TIPP Poll history.

Among Democrats, 61% said “big donors,” compared to 68% of Republicans and 73% of independents. “Constituents” garnered 20% of Democrats, 16% of Republicans and just 9% of independents.

So the political disgruntlement is deep, widespread and multi-partisan.

But there were some deeper demographic differences. Most notably, the older the person responding, the more likely they were to believe that their elected officials were really representing the interests and views of those who gave them big bucks.

Among voters from 18-24 years of age, just 53% responded “big donors,” while 21% said “their constituents.” That compares to the 25-44 age group (57% “big donors”, 24% “their constituents”), the 45-64 age group (70% big donors, 13% constituents) and age 65+, the most negative group at 75% “big donors,” compared to a mere 8% for “their constituents.”

The older the voter, the more wary they are of their Washington representatives.

Race was another big difference. Among white voters, 71% said their representatives worked for their big donors, while a tiny 12% said for their constituents. Among black and hispanic Americans, 52% felt their representatives reflected the views and values of their big donors, compared to 27% who responded “their constituents.”

We then asked one more closely related question, reflecting how people felt about their own representatives in Washington: “How satisfied are you that your congressional representative represents your views and values?”

Once again, voters were not happy. Just 39% of Americans said they were satisfied with their congressional representative, while 52% said they were not satisfied.

This time, the political differences showed. Overall, 50% of Democrats called themselves “satisfied,” vs. 43% “dissatisfied,” with their representative. Not so Republicans or independents. For GOP voters, just 36% said they were happy with their representative, 53% unhappy.

By far, independents were least happy: Only 27% declared themselves “satisfied,” compared to a whopping 64% who said they were “dissatisfied.”

COMMENT: As always, we caution that a poll is a snapshot in time, and the results are affected by the way questions are worded.

However, please consider:  Alan Jay Lerner, the great lyricist, once said, "The harder I work, the luckier I get."  Success in politics often comes to the side that works the hardest, is most dedicated, and is willing to remain committed over time.  In the last 50 years, that side has been the American left.  Not liberals.  The left.  They have penetrated into every aspect of American life – the universities, the churches, local school boards, small towns, the media.  They are relentless...but they rarely represent the basic American values that most of America cherish.  I suspect the sense of distance from their elected officials that Americans feel comes in some important measure from the dedication of the left, and the ability to keep that determination quiet when necessary. 

Our side has to work harder, every day.  Politics is not a gentleman's game, nor a weekend sport.  Our ideas are better, and usually more popular.  We have to have a greater will to win. 

January 25, 2023