Seung Min Kim and Scott Clement report for the Washington Post:
President Trump’s strongest case for reelection remains the country’s healthy economy, but the potency of that issue for him is complicated by a widespread belief that the economy mainly benefits people already in power, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.
The result previews a fresh wave of populism that could reshape yet another presidential campaign with about 18 months to go before voters decide whether to return Trump to the White House.
This sentiment runs the deepest among Democratic and independent registered voters but also exists among a significant slice of Republicans. About 8 in 10 Democrats and more than 6 in 10 independents say the country’s economic system gives an advantage to those already in power, while nearly a third of Republicans share that view.
The survey finds broad dissatisfaction with the country’s economic and political systems. Overall, 60 percent of all voters say the country’s economic system mainly benefits those in power, while 72 percent say the same for the nation’s political structures.
Here’s my problem with this analysis: We don’t get any information on how much public opinion on these questions has changed, or even if it is changed at all. Are we seeing a “fresh wave of populism” in this data, or a longstanding skepticism about our system?
The same poll found that 71 percent of Americans in 2014 and 68 percent in 2015 thought the country’s economic system favors the wealthy. So it’s not clear that we are in a moment of greater economic populism in public opinion.
On a related subject, polls show high levels of support for higher taxes on the rich–but they usually show that, and that level of support has fallen.