Why are people blaming COVID policies? There’s no mention of that in the actual PDF lol
The bigger issue is the perception that Dems care more about “social justice” than getting things done, especially since a lot of voters seem unaware of the policies that have already been passed.
• Biden is hurting, even among supporters. None of these people would have switched their vote with hindsight. They also do not necessarily blame him for ongoing problems with the delta variant, inflation, or supply chain bottlenecks. But at the same time, these 2020 Biden voters had little positive to say about him right now, and many described disappointment or a sense that he is not doing well. They were reluctant to say he’s not up to the job, but they don’t feel like he’s getting it done right now.
• Democrats have no real brand among these swing voters, whose 2020 vote was first and foremost against Trump. Most could not articulate what Democrats stand for. They could also not say what they are doing in Washington, besides fighting. They were vaguely aware of the infrastructure bill in Congress and pieces they’ve heard are in the reconciliation bill (mainly tuition forgiveness and free college). They could not define Biden as being to the left or right of the average Democrat, and mostly saw Democrats as being in tune with him. Whatever their view is of Biden is all they have to go on in judging Democrats.
• They thought Democrats are only focused on equality and fairness and not on helping people. None of these Biden voters associated our party with helping working people, the middle class, or people like them. They thought we were more focused on breaking down social barriers facing marginalized groups. They were all for helping marginalized groups, but the fact that they couldn’t point to anything we are doing to help them was deeply concerning.
• They didn’t want a bigger BBB or a smaller BBB—the only side they take in that is “stop fighting.” These Biden/Youngkin voters didn’t think Biden was more liberal or more conservative than they expected, and they also didn’t have real complaints about Democrats a) spending too much or b) cutting key programs from BBB. Their problem was that they think that we are doing nothing but fighting, when they want action on the economy.
• If we are running 2022 on “Republican candidate = Trump,” we’re getting killed. Again, this very well may have been the best arrow the McAuliffe campaign had in its quiver—the anti-vaccine stuff might not have worked, he might have been just as hard to tie to January 6 as he was to Trump, and his business record may not have resonated. That was outside the scope of these focus groups. But it’s clear that simply equating Youngkin to Trump was not credible.
• Don’t underestimate the power of a positive message that speaks to people’s every day lives. This may be an obvious point, but Glenn Youngkin tapped into a major issue (rising prices of meat + other groceries) and proposed a solution (ending the grocery tax) that showed he got the problem. They also mentioned Youngkin wanting to increase funding in schools and give parents more of a say in their education.
