Both Democratic and Republican voters want the presidential candidates to take to make the debt a larger campaign issue, according to recent polls conducted by Global Strategy Group and North Star Opinion Research. Voters widely agree (79%) that a presidential candidate from their party should make the national debt one of the top three priorities of his or her campaign, including overwhelming majorities of Democrats (71%) and Republicans (92%).
Voters want to hear more about the national debt during the primaries, with a clear majority (71%) agreeing that primary candidates should make addressing the debt a larger part of their campaign platforms. Only 15% of voters believe the issue should make up a smaller part of campaigns' platforms.
Furthermore, candidates can benefit electorally by committing to plans to address the debt: Of the 1,006 registered voters polled, 55% said that they would be more likely to vote for a candidate for president who supports a bipartisan plan to address the debt. A majority of voters — 51% of Democrats and 64% of Republicans — also said they would be more interested in this year's elections if candidates spent more time focusing on the issue.
For a more detailed breakdown of the polling results and methodology, check out the polling memo. If you also care about the national debt, you can let the candidates know.
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Further Reading
What Are Interest Costs on the National Debt?
Interest costs are on track to become the largest category of spending in the federal budget.
Healthcare Costs Are a Major Driver of the National Debt and Here’s the Biggest Reason Why
Improving the U.S. healthcare system will be crucial to providing quality, affordable healthcare and to bettering our nation’s long-term economic and fiscal well-being.
House Reconciliation Bill Would Add Trillions to the National Debt
The bill would increase debt by $3.0 trillion over the next 10 years, driving it from nearly 100 percent of GDP now to 124 percent of GDP by 2034.