On Sunday morning’s Meet the Press, anchor Chuck Todd and his panelists were clearly concerned about some recent polling that shows voters under 35 years old, and Hispanic voters are starting to “peel away” from Joe Biden and the Democrat Party, which is disastrous news for congressional Democrats this November.
Todd was cognizant of this throughout the segment. “There's one demographic group I want to single out, and it’s voters under 35,” Todd said, noting how they “have never experienced inflation in their lifetime.”
“Look at these numbers here,” Todd said despondently, before giving a rundown of the topline numbers: “Right now 82 percent of the public thinks the economy is only fair or poor. Adults under thirty five, it’s 87 percent.”
In trying to contextualize how these numbers have gotten this bad, Todd rightly noted that voters under 35 years old are “used to life when, oh, there is a new gadget out? Well, in six months it will be cheaper, not more expensive. This is a whole different world.”
PBS NewsHour chief correspondent Amna Nawaz described how important the under 35 vote is to Democrats: “you're talking about one of the key groups that not only help Democrats win back control of Congress, propel Biden into the White House.”
So needless to say, if Democrats lose this key demographic it would be devastating to their electoral prospects.
Turning to the next set of bad polling numbers, Todd reported how in Nevada, “Democratic incumbent Steve Sisolak, [and] Democratic incumbent Senator Catherine Cortez Masto both were behind, [and] trailing their potential Republican opponents.”
Todd noted that it is early still and things could change but “when you look at the Nevada electorate, this is pieces of the coalition you see fraying away from Biden.” Continuing his analysis, Todd observed: “Hispanic voters starting to peel away a little bit, working class, non-college-educated whites. This is a problem and Nevada may be the most acute.”
Washington Post deputy editorial page editor Ruth Marcus concurred that the “Democrats are facing a very dire situation in November.” Because “72 percent of Nevadans rated economic conditions fair or poor. This is a state that has gone for the Democratic candidate four times in a row, for the Democratic presidential candidate. It's a state that Biden won.”
Marcus left the worst news for last, according to her the “most scary and perhaps most ominous is the peeling off of Hispanic voters in Nevada.” Among hispanic voters, Biden’s approval rating went from “73 percent a year ago to 52 percent now.”
“You just read that if you're a Democratic candidate or pollster, you read it and gulp” she said.
This segment of NBC panicking over a looming Democrat wipeout in November was made possible by Fidelity. Their information is linked.
To read the relevant transcript click "expand":
NBC’s Meet the Press
4/17/2022
11:07:13 a.m. EasternCHUCK TODD: Amna, there's one demographic group I want to single out, and it’s voters under 35.
AMNA NAWAZ: Oh yeah!
TODD: Who have never experienced inflation in their lifetime. They're used to life when, oh, there is a new gadget out? Well, in six months it will be cheaper, not more expensive. This is a whole different world. Look at these numbers here, they think over–by a five point margin greater. Right now 82 percent of the public thinks the economy is only fair or poor. Adults under thirty five, it’s 87 percent. Again, you want to buy a house for the first time? You're paying a higher interest rate than your parents have ever paid, never mind food and gas. This is a huge part of the Dem coalition.
NAWAZ: It's not great. It’s not great. You're talking about one of the key groups that not only help Democrats win back control of Congress, propel Biden into the White House, but are also going to be in play in larger numbers than ever before in the upcoming midterms and the economy is front and center. When we talk about the economy, let’s be specific, we're talking about inflation, we're talking about cost of living. Because the White House will, again, point to things like unemployment being at record lows, in 17 states, under 3 percent in 20 states, wage growth at the rate it's been. But also the fact that wage growth is not keeping up with the cost of living. Right? So this generation stepped out into the world, and were immediately hit with two back-to-back financial crises. Right? You have the global financial crisis, then you have this related financial crisis from the pandemic, and things are not getting better. Even if you just go back a year, expectations were so high, vaccines were coming out, things were going to get back to normal. Their wages have been suppressed, they are forced into unemployment or underemployment and they are pessimistic about the future.
TODD: And Ruth when America’s economy gets a cold, Nevada gets the flu. I want to show these Nevada numbers here because two incumbents, Democratic incumbent Steve Sisolak, Democratic incumbent Senator Catherine Cortez Masto both were behind, trailing their potential Republican opponents. There’s still some primaries, still a lot of work to do there, but when you look at the Nevada electorate, this is pieces of the coalition you see fraying away from Biden. Hispanic voters starting to peel away a little bit, working class, non-college-educated whites. This is a problem and Nevada may be the most acute.
RUTH MARCUS: Nevada is a very acute problem, and it's indicative problem that, as John Anzalone said, Democrats are facing a very dire situation in November. Just to put some numbers on that, more than 7 in 10, 72 percent of Nevadans rated economic conditions fair or poor. This is a state that has gone for the Democratic candidate four times in a row, for the Democratic presidential candidate. It's a state that Biden won. Now his approval rating there is below the overall poll. It's at 35 percent. And most scary and perhaps most ominous is the peeling off of Hispanic voters in Nevada. Slump of approval rating from 73 percent a year ago to 52 percent now. You just read that if you're a Democratic candidate or pollster, you read it and gulp. What is going on here?
