Candidates next election cycle will certainly be battling to prove to voters that they can address the issues that inflation has caused in the U.S. | Canva
Candidates next election cycle will certainly be battling to prove to voters that they can address the issues that inflation has caused in the U.S. | Canva
With citizens around the country becoming increasingly frustrated with the rising costs of goods and services, new polls are starting to show that inflation is clearly having an impact on the expected results of upcoming elections as well as President Joe Biden's approval rating.
A recent poll found that Biden's support in Iowa has eroded and that if a rematch between former President Donald Trump and Biden were held in Iowa today, Trump would increase his margin of victory from 8 percentage points to 11, a rise driven mainly by independents, the Des Moines Register reported Nov. 13.
Residents of Iowa have been heavily impacted by higher prices, meaning that Biden's approval rating is falling more drastically in the state than many of the other states around the country.
One of the main reasons for that is inflation poses a severe threat to Iowa farmers, according to a Nov. 16 opinion piece in The Iowa Torch.
“A surprising number of farmers pay for much of next year’s expenses just before the end of the year and cover the checks with the grain sold for January and delivered ahead of year-end," Iowa Farmers Union board member John Gilbert, a farmer in Hardin County, told The Center Square. "The kind of inflation farmers are facing — and fearing — is what happens every time there’s a run-up in commodity prices. Everyone in the business of selling inputs sees higher prices as a chance to boost the price of their products. The problem is those prices never go down when commodity prices eventually slump.”
Inflation has become a central issue in elections around the country. So far, there is no end in sight, either. In October, the consumer price index increased by 0.6%, surpassing economists’ predictions that it would rise by 0.4%, Axios reported. This increase also eclipsed September’s 0.2% increase. Overall prices have risen by 6.2% compared to a year ago, making it the sharpest annual increase in over 30 years.
Fuel and oil prices rose dramatically once again in October, increasing by 12.3%, on top of a 3.9% jump in September. Fuel prices have skyrocketed by 59.1% since the same time last year.
A recent Morning Consult/Politico poll found that among all voters, 60% are “very concerned” about inflation, 27% are “somewhat concerned” and just 3% are not concerned at all. Republicans were most likely to be concerned, at 93%, but a significant 83% majority of Democratic voters are also concerned.
Nearly two out of three voters, 62%, said the Biden administration was very or somewhat responsible, while just 11% said Biden’s policies were not at least in part responsible for inflation. Biden’s approval rating fell to the lowest on record in the most recent Morning Consult/Politico polling, with just 43% of Americans approving of the president and 53% disapproving.
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