2022 Midterm Question: What are your top 3 concerns/issues?

[molten_dragon]

Economy, bad leadership, education.

 

[lurchadams]

Please read each option carefully before answering. Here are your options:

Economy - Inflation is at a 40-year high. Gas prices are at record highs. We have massive shortages in the service and trucking industry. These concerns have many people believe a recession is on the horizon. This option is for people who are concerned about the status of the economy and stock market.

COVID-19 - Even though Dr. Fauci says we're no longer in a pandemic phase, you still feel America needs to keep their eye on the ball. You support candidates that will protect our community and families from the deadly virus. Vaccines, masks, and discovering new ways to combat and detect the coronavirus are on your mind.

Ineffective and Corrupt Leadership - It's all about the state of our nation's top leaders. You believe the incumbents are doing an extremely poor job. Whether it is Biden-Pelosi-Schumer on the left or Trump-McCarthy-McConnell on the right. Corrupt and incompetent leadership is dragging our country downward.

Health-Care - This option is for people who want to see a public option, medicare-for-all, or want to see a more market-based (Conservative) approach to our medical needs.

National Security - You're concerned about our government's ability to protect its borders. This means against potential terrorists, gangs, drug cartels, and illegal aliens.

Climate Change - No longer called "Global Warming". You're concerned about clean water, clean air, the status of our national parks, and the impact humans have on our environment.

Racial and Gender Equality - This option is for people who believe women and minorities are under attack in America. More civil rights protection laws are desperately needed to curb the issue.

Education - You feel our schools are getting too woke for their own good and are not addressing the major deficiencies within our public school systems.

Social Security and Retirement - You're concerned about the status of social security and the ability to retire in peace.

Voting rights, voting rights, and voting rights.

 

[PoliSciPulse]

My choices:
1) COVID-19: Though it is becoming weaker, there is always a threat that it will become stronger again. I believe this will eventually become "seasonal" like the flu, but until that determination is made on the seasonal issue and how to best prepare for nastier seasons compared to other ones, it still remains an issue.

2) Bad Leadership: I used to say the four people I wanted out of office (or I'll even settle for "leadership positions") were Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Mitch McConnell (D-KY), John Boehner (R-OH), and Harry Reid (D-NV). Two of them are gone, two of them to go. But the problems I have with their leadership is that they play cheap political games and destroy any chance of actual progress (in a general forward, positive direction, not in terms of "progressivism" necessarily). The games they play on issues such as abortion, Obamacare, and more are merely successes in scoring political points as opposed to actually wanted to do something in one direction or the other. For abortion, especially under Obama, the Pain Capable Child Protection Act is a perfect example of a political game.

They have no convictions, unlike at the state level where people want to make significant change one way or the other. It seems more and more these days that when you elect people at the state level, they will actually do (for better or for worse) what you elected them to do. We need more of that in Congress, for better or for worse.

Other: If I had my way, the establishment would have been broken. We actually had a guy in office who could break the establishments of both parties. Guy named Donald Trump (R-FL), who, if re-elected, would have shattered both establishments. Don't know if you've heard of him . I just wish the person who could have broken the establishment was more acceptable to me. If he had been, I would have voted for him. As it was, I voted third party.

 

[gbg3]

Just posting this because it made me think of this poll/discussion - when I saw this from a brand new WaPo/ABC poll.

 

[Overitall]

Just posting this because it made me think of this poll/discussion - when I saw this from a brand new WaPo/ABC poll.

View attachment 67388430

The one on Education and schools surprise me. Wasn't the governor race in Virginia about education and schools leading to Youngkin's victory? Or the latest Parents Rights Bill in Florida?

 

[Captain Adverse]

I picked the Economy, Bad leadership, and Other, with other being Border Security (as opposed to the catch-all "national security").

With the economy we need to become energy independent, we need to exploit all of our own natural resources rather than letting fears of "climate change" allow other nations like China do what they will why we accept all the blame, and we need to seek ways to bring mass production back home rather than letting other nations (like China) control our economy.

Border Security over "national security" because control of our borders and enforcing immigration policies would go a long way toward the goal of improving the economy and protecting national security. Better that than allowing our "national security agencies" become further tools of oppression. (See Mayorkas Disinformation Governance Board, and our NSA/CIA/ other alphabet soup of "security sections" acts over the years).

Bad leadership because we are currently ruled by appointed life-long bureaucrats of our Administrative State rather than elected officials who come and go, often thanks to the machinations of those Bureaucrats. We need a new Administration that will not only appoint all new "leadership" positions, but will also try to clean house of all those lifetime "deputy managers" who remain regardless of who heads departments.

 

[gbg3]

The one on Education and schools surprise me. Wasn't the governor race in Virginia about education and schools leading to Youngkin's victory? Or the latest Parents Rights Bill in Florida?

Yes, very good point.
Maybe those being polled are not really equating or lumping together wokeness/indoctrination/parent rights and education.
Sort of like in this poll on this thread, I read the poll but not comment 1. Immigration/border are not typically included in "National Security" in all the various polls I peruse so that just seemed like a different issue to me. I view national security more along the line of defense capabilities regarding ability to handle military attack. I tend to view border strength/enforcement as a separate issue and crime as another separate issue.

 

[Callen]

I think people interpret the category based on their circumstances. For example, people along the border may view the migrant issue as a crime issue rather than an immigration issue. Some may see border security as national security. Similarly, many people may not view education through the lens of "indoctrination" but rather in terms of funding.

One thing I think is usually pretty cut and dried and that's bread and butter issues like inflation. When the economy is bad or perceived to be bad, then it trumps all else. The Dems could have all the other issues under control but as long as inflation is soaring they are toast.

 

[Overitall]

Yes, very good point.
Maybe those being polled are not really equating or lumping together wokeness/indoctrination/parent rights and education.
Sort of like in this poll on this thread, I read the poll but not comment 1. Immigration/border are not typically included in "National Security" in all the various polls I peruse so that just seemed like a different issue to me. I view national security more along the line of defense capabilities regarding ability to handle military attack. I tend to view border strength/enforcement as a separate issue and crime as another separate issue.

I suppose the way by which the poll questions are posed makes all the difference. Personally, I've never answered polls (outside of here) because I think they're bs. The only way I know of guaging the viewpoint of the public is to ask the same questions to the same people over time. I don't understand how random polls can accurately reflect the country. But I'm sure pollsters have some complicated way of explaining it.

 

[Old 'N Chill]

Ineffective and Corrupt Leadership - It's all about the state of our nation's top leaders. You believe the incumbents are doing an extremely poor job. Whether it is Biden-Pelosi-Schumer on the left or Trump-McCarthy-McConnell on the right. Corrupt and incompetent leadership is dragging our country downward.

This is what I am most concerned about. The Trump Party "republicans" continuing to interfere with and suppress the votes, cheat in elections themselves by using dead family member's ballots, threatening poll workers, bullying voters and doing whatever they can in their power, legal or not, to stop Americans from freely and easily exercising their rights to vote as citizens in the United States of America.

Over the course of 2021, 19 states passed 34 laws making it harder to vote—the greatest rollback of voting access since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Those changes include more than a dozen GOP-controlled states passing new provisions to interfere with impartial election administration, while Trump and his allies aggressively recruit “Stop the Steal”–inspired candidates to take over key election positions like secretary of state offices and local election boards in major battleground states.

“What we’re seeing is a multifaceted, multilevel attack on American democracy,” says Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, chair of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State.

And make no mistake, if Republicans prevail in rigging the 2022 election, they’ll be even more emboldened in 2024, especially if Trump is on the ballot. The lies of a stolen election propagated by Trump—and exploited by Republican lawmakers who know better—are now being used to lay the groundwork to sabotage elections for real.

“Their endgame?” President Joe Biden asked rhetorically during a major speech in Atlanta on January 11. “To turn the will of the voters into a mere suggestion—something states can respect or ignore.” This isn’t just about the normal ebb and flow of partisan politics; it’s a test of whether a party that is deadly serious about ending American democracy as we know it will regain control of ostensibly democratic institutions.


“The insurrection, the gerrymandering, the voter suppression, the attacks on professional election officials—all of this puts our democracy at risk to a degree we have not seen since the Civil War,” former Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder told me recently. “That’s how serious this is.”

The coming coup: How Republicans are laying the groundwork to steal future elections

Democrats are nearly out of time to stop them.

www.motherjones.com

The Pattern of GOP Voter Fraud - The Bulwark

In case after case from 2020, it turns out that Republicans were the ones misbehaving at the ballot box.

www.thebulwark.com

 

[antiquity]

My impression that they never read the options.

My impression is the OP was too embarrassed to flat out list it.

 

[jaypatriot]

Please read each option carefully before answering. Here are your options:

Economy - Inflation is at a 40-year high. Gas prices are at record highs. We have massive shortages in the service and trucking industry. These concerns have many people believe a recession is on the horizon. This option is for people who are concerned about the status of the economy and stock market.

COVID-19 - Even though Dr. Fauci says we're no longer in a pandemic phase, you still feel America needs to keep their eye on the ball. You support candidates that will protect our community and families from the deadly virus. Vaccines, masks, and discovering new ways to combat and detect the coronavirus are on your mind.

Ineffective and Corrupt Leadership - It's all about the state of our nation's top leaders. You believe the incumbents are doing an extremely poor job. Whether it is Biden-Pelosi-Schumer on the left or Trump-McCarthy-McConnell on the right. Corrupt and incompetent leadership is dragging our country downward.

Health-Care - This option is for people who want to see a public option, medicare-for-all, or want to see a more market-based (Conservative) approach to our medical needs.

National Security - You're concerned about our government's ability to protect its borders. This means against potential terrorists, gangs, drug cartels, and illegal aliens.

Climate Change - No longer called "Global Warming". You're concerned about clean water, clean air, the status of our national parks, and the impact humans have on our environment.

Racial and Gender Equality - This option is for people who believe women and minorities are under attack in America. More civil rights protection laws are desperately needed to curb the issue.

Education - You feel our schools are getting too woke for their own good and are not addressing the major deficiencies within our public school systems.

Social Security and Retirement - You're concerned about the status of social security and the ability to retire in peace.

You did a good job highlighting each of those concerns.

Parents are going to slam the Dems over perceived CRT and LGBTQ indoctrination in the schools for young children. And note I wrote 'perceived' because rabid activists will scream those objectives do not exist.

Workers are going to slam Biden for not doing more about inflation that is hurting millions of families. As in 1982, what Reagan had to do to curb inflation was painful. The Dems will lose lots of seats because of inflation and Biden will be the target of their ire.

Tied to inflation is the idiotic energy policy that does not exist.
Voters perceive Biden to want to curb fossil fuel production in the name of climate change and at the same time he wants other countries to pump more oil and gas to counter Putin. And, at the same time, he will take credit for the U.S. exporting more and more natural gas to Europe to back fill the loss of Russian oil/gas to Europe.
Sounds schizophrenic doesn't it.?

Voters are sick and tired of the Progressives pulling the country to the left.
And Biden is hoping he gets much-needed kudos from his efforts to thwart Putin by giving more and more billions of military aid to Ukraine. It might work.

 

[BrotherFease]

My impression is the OP was too embarrassed to flat out list it.

This is literally what I wrote:

National Security - You're concerned about our government's ability to protect its borders. This means against potential terrorists, gangs, drug cartels, and illegal aliens.

How does this option NOT cover border security concerns? It was literally designed for concerns about illegals, drugs, and terrorists. Unless "border crisis" means something entirely different I am lost.

 

[BrotherFease]

You did a good job highlighting each of those concerns.

Parents are going to slam the Dems over perceived CRT and LGBTQ indoctrination in the schools for young children. And note I wrote 'perceived' because rabid activists will scream those objectives do not exist.

Workers are going to slam Biden for not doing more about inflation that is hurting millions of families. As in 1982, what Reagan had to do to curb inflation was painful. The Dems will lose lots of seats because of inflation and Biden will be the target of their ire.

Tied to inflation is the idiotic energy policy that does not exist.
Voters perceive Biden to want to curb fossil fuel production in the name of climate change and at the same time he wants other countries to pump more oil and gas to counter Putin. And, at the same time, he will take credit for the U.S. exporting more and more natural gas to Europe to back fill the loss of Russian oil/gas to Europe.
Sounds schizophrenic doesn't it.?

Voters are sick and tired of the Progressives pulling the country to the left.
And Biden is hoping he gets much-needed kudos from his efforts to thwart Putin by giving more and more billions of military aid to Ukraine. It might work.

Much appreciation for your post. What you wrote above is exactly why the Democrats are going to take a huge hit in November. To add to your points, I think even liberal parents think our education system has gotten too woke. Case in point:

San Francisco recalls 3 members of city’s scandal-plagued school board

Frustrated parents who say the board wasted its time on matters unrelated to the coronavirus launched the recall effort.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Captain Adverse]

You did a good job highlighting each of those concerns.

Parents are going to slam the Dems over perceived CRT and LGBTQ indoctrination in the schools for young children. And note I wrote 'perceived' because rabid activists will scream those objectives do not exist.

Workers are going to slam Biden for not doing more about inflation that is hurting millions of families. As in 1982, what Reagan had to do to curb inflation was painful. The Dems will lose lots of seats because of inflation and Biden will be the target of their ire.

Tied to inflation is the idiotic energy policy that does not exist.
Voters perceive Biden to want to curb fossil fuel production in the name of climate change and at the same time he wants other countries to pump more oil and gas to counter Putin. And, at the same time, he will take credit for the U.S. exporting more and more natural gas to Europe to back fill the loss of Russian oil/gas to Europe.
Sounds schizophrenic doesn't it.?

Good points.

Voters are sick and tired of the Progressives pulling the country to the left.

Got the main problem in one.

And Biden is hoping he gets much-needed kudos from his efforts to thwart Putin by giving more and more billions of military aid to Ukraine. It might work.

That is a forlorn hope, as there are too many problems caused by his Administration here for many people to be truly concerned about a foreign issue over there.