Challenges to Democracy: The 2024 Election in Focus

A Hightly Reputable Site:

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/public-religion-research-institute-prri/

Features some stunning data, such as:

• Seven in ten Americans (70%) believe things in the country are going in the wrong direction, including most Republicans (94%) and independents (70%), compared with 41% of Democrats. 
• While a majority of Americans (54%) also believe that things in their home state are going in the wrong direction, 56% of Americans believe things in their local communities are going in the right direction.

• Republicans (68%) are more likely than independents (48%) and Democrats (31%) to say that American culture and way of life has mostly changed for the worse since the 1950s. 
• White Christian groups and Hispanic Protestants are the most likely to say American culture and way of life has changed for the worse since the 1950s. 
• More than six in ten Americans rate increasing costs of housing and everyday expenses as a critical issue to their vote in November.
• Among Republicans, abortion has declined as a critically important issue since the last presidential election, from 49% in 2020 to 29% in 2024. Abortion has increased in salience among Democrats, from 35% in 2020 to 55% in 2024. 
• Since the last presidential election, immigration has become far more salient for Republicans, with the percentage considering it a critical issue rising from 38% in 2020 to 71% in 2024. While 36% of Democrats viewed immigration as a critical issue in 2020, that figure drops to 24% today. However, immigration has risen in significance for independents, from 29% in 2020 to 42% in 2024. 
• Seventy-two percent of Americans say they are worried about not having enough money to retire, while more than six in ten say they are worried about being unable to afford health care (65%), housing (64%), everyday expenses such as groceries or gas (61%), or getting a job that pays a living wage (59%). 
• Three-quarters of voters (75%) who say that immigration is a critical issue prefer Trump over Harris (23%).  
• Voters who say that jobs and unemployment are a critical issue prefer Trump (58%) over Harris (41%); similarly, voters who prioritize increasing costs of housing and everyday expenses slightly prefer Trump instead of Harris (53% vs. 45%). 

There is a LOT of stuff to consume in the following link, but I just wanted to give a sampling:

https://www.prri.org/research/challenges-to-democracy-the-2024-election-in-focus-findings-from-the-2024-american-values-survey/

Perhaps the most striking detail was this one:

The American public is evenly divided about whether there is a real danger that Trump will use the presidency to become a dictator (49% agree vs. 48% disagree). Only 11% of Republicans agree with the statement, and 89% disagree. Among Democrats, 88% agree with the statement that Trump intends to become a dictator and 12% disagree. Independents are divided on this question (48% agree vs. 50% disagree). 

Simple question: Have the Dems missed the boat on the issues of immigration and the economy by focusing too much of their messaging on abortion and the thread to Democracy?