Contact: Jeremy Rosen
jrosen@pgpf.org
Candidates from Both Parties Can Add Late Support by Showing Willingness to Reduce the National Debt in a Bipartisan Fashion
NEW YORK (October 30, 2018) — With one week until voters elect a new Congress in the 2018 Midterm Elections, the national debt is a driving factor for a majority of Americans, according to a new poll released today by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
Despite the lack of attention within Washington, voters of all political persuasions say the national debt is an important factor in their vote for Congress this year, and are more inclined to vote for candidates from either party who are willing to work in a bipartisan way to fix the problem, according to the survey prepared by a bipartisan team of polling firms, Global Strategy Group and North Star Opinion Research.
Key findings include:
More broadly, voters want the next Congress and the President to make the nation’s fiscal health a top priority, according to the Peterson Foundation’s Fiscal Confidence Index, a monthly measure of public attitudes about the national debt and the efforts by elected leaders to address America’s fiscal challenges. The October Fiscal Confidence Index, modeled after the Consumer Confidence Index, is 62 (100 is neutral).
Heading into the 2018 midterm elections, voters nationwide feel that the country is on the wrong track in addressing the national debt (38% right direction/53% wrong track), and eight in 10 voters (80%) believe that the President and Congress should be spending more time addressing the problem.
“The national debt is a key issue for the vast majority of voters as they head to the polls,” said Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. “Lawmakers have made irresponsible fiscal choices that have grown the national debt to dangerous levels, putting critical federal programs and future generations at risk. We’ll return to trillion-dollar deficits as early as this year, and interest costs are growing rapidly, consuming resources that could be used for investing in national priorities like education, infrastructure and national defense. This election season, voters are looking for leaders who will restore fiscal order and secure our future.”
The Fiscal Confidence Index measures public opinion about the national debt by asking six questions in three key areas:
The survey results from these three areas are weighted equally and averaged to produce the Fiscal Confidence Index value. The Fiscal Confidence Index, like the Consumer Confidence Index, is indexed on a scale of 0 to 200, with a neutral midpoint of 100. A reading above 100 indicates positive sentiment. A reading below 100 indicates negative sentiment.
Fiscal Confidence Index Key Data Points:
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation commissioned this poll by the Global Strategy Group and North Star Opinion Research to survey public opinion on the national debt. The nationwide poll included 1,000 U.S. registered voters, surveyed by telephone between October 23, 2018 and October 26, 2018. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.1%. The poll examined voters’ opinions on the national debt, political leadership, and America’s fiscal and economic health.
Detailed poll results can be found online at: www.pgpf.org/FiscalConfidenceIndex.
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that is dedicated to increasing public awareness of the nature and urgency of key fiscal challenges threatening America's future, and to accelerating action on them. To address these challenges successfully, we work to bring Americans together to find and implement sensible, long-term solutions that transcend age, party lines and ideological divides in order to achieve real results. To learn more, please visit www.pgpf.org.
CONCERN (64) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Thinking about our national debt over the last few years, would you say your level of concern has increased or decreased? ◊ Is that a lot or just a little? |
October 2018 | September 2018 | August 2018 |
Increased a lot | 37% | 41% | 37% |
Increased a little | 24% | 18% | 24% |
Decreased a little | 15% | 15% | 13% |
Decreased a lot | 9% | 8% | 7% |
(No change) | 12% | 14% | 15% |
(Don't Know/Refused) | 4% | 4% | 4% |
INCREASED (NET) | 61% | 58% | 61% |
DECREASED (NET) | 23% | 23% | 20% |
When it comes to addressing our national debt, would you say things in the United States are heading in the right direction or do you think things are off on the wrong track? ◊ Do you feel that way strongly or just somewhat? |
October 2018 | September 2018 | August 2018 |
Right direction-Strongly | 20% | 19% | 21% |
Right direction-Somewhat | 18% | 17% | 17% |
Wrong track-Somewhat | 16% | 15% | 18% |
Wrong track-Strongly | 36% | 38% | 35% |
(Neither/Mixed) | 3% | 4% | 4% |
(Don't Know/Refused) | 6% | 6% | 7% |
RIGHT DIRECTION (NET) | 38% | 36% | 37% |
WRONG TRACK (NET) | 53% | 54% | 53% |
PRIORITY (32) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Some people say that addressing the national debt should be among the president and Congress' top 3 priorities. Do you agree or disagree? ◊ Do you feel that way strongly or just somewhat? |
October 2018 | September 2018 | August 2018 |
Strongly agree | 41% | 43% | 47% |
Somewhat agree | 32% | 24% | 26% |
Somewhat disagree | 15% | 16% | 13% |
Strongly disagree | 8% | 10% | 8% |
(Don't Know/Refused) | 4% | 6% | 6% |
AGREE (NET) | 73% | 68% | 73% |
DISAGREE (NET) | 23% | 26% | 21% |
And when it comes to our national debt, do you think it is an issue that the president and Congress should spend more time addressing or less time addressing? ◊ Would you say a lot (more or less) time or just a little? |
October 2018 | September 2018 | August 2018 |
A lot more time | 52% | 53% | 56% |
A little more time | 28% | 22% | 26% |
A little less time | 7% | 8% | 5% |
A lot less time | 4% | 6% | 4% |
(The same amount of time) | 3% | 4% | 3% |
(Don't Know/Refused) | 6% | 6% | 6% |
MORE TIME (NET) | 80% | 75% | 82% |
LESS TIME (NET) | 11% | 14% | 9% |
EXPECTATIONS (89) | |||
---|---|---|---|
And thinking about our national debt over the next few years, do you expect the problem to get better or worse? ◊ Is that much (better or worse) or just somewhat (better or worse)? |
October 2018 | September 2018 | August 2018 |
Much better | 12% | 13% | 15% |
Somewhat better | 20% | 17% | 17% |
Somewhat worse | 26% | 26% | 26% |
Much worse | 32% | 35% | 33% |
(No change) | 3% | 3% | 2% |
(Don't know/Refused) | 7% | 6% | 7% |
BETTER (NET) | 33% | 30% | 32% |
WORSE (NET) | 57% | 60% | 59% |
And when it comes to our national debt, are you optimistic or pessimistic that the United States will be able to make progress on our national debt over the next few years? ◊ Would you say you are very (optimistic or pessimistic) or just somewhat? |
October 2018 | September 2018 | August 2018 |
Very optimistic | 20% | 21% | 22% |
Somewhat optimistic | 33% | 29% | 30% |
Somewhat pessimistic | 18% | 17% | 16% |
Very pessimistic | 21% | 25% | 24% |
(Neither/Mixed) | 2% | 4% | 2% |
(Don't Know/Refused) | 5% | 5% | 5% |
OPTIMISTIC (NET) | 54% | 50% | 52% |
PESSIMISTIC (NET) | 39% | 42% | 41% |