Americans Worry as US Cost of Living Continues To Spiral Out of Control

EDITOR'S NOTE: According to a recent NBC poll, 72% of Americans foresee the future of the country as nothing much brighter than bleak. They describe the economic situation as “downhill,” the political situation as “divisive,” and the notion of democracy as something under grave threat. The partisan fence is no longer a space for negotiation and compromise but a dividing line between “us” and the vilified “them.” Even truth itself has its “alternatives,” rendering discourse a moot function in a “post-truth” world. None of this seems surprising. If the majority of Americans envision the disintegration, not of “America,” but their notion of it, placing full blame on the “other” with no critical eye toward themselves, then the America that one ascended the heights to global leadership may exist only in shadow and memory. Taking the US dollar as a metaphor, everyone sees its decline, but hardly anyone will take the time to investigate the source of its demise.

Large majorities say that the U.S. is going in the wrong direction, that they are falling behind economically and that political polarization will continue.

WASHINGTON — Overwhelming majorities of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, that their household income is falling behind the cost of living, that political polarization will only continue and that there's a real threat to democracy and majority rule.

What's more, the nation's top politicians and political parties are more unpopular than popular, and interest in the upcoming November midterms is down — not up.

And when Americans were asked to describe where they believe America is today, the top answers were "downhill," "divisive," "negative," "struggling," "lost" and "bad."

Those are the grim findings of a new national NBC News poll conducted less than 10 months before the midterm elections, when control of the U.S. Senate, U.S. House and governors' mansions across the country will be up for grabs.

"Downhill, divided, doubting democracy, falling behind, and tuning out — this is how Americans are feeling as they're heading into 2022," said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies.

That pessimism and gloom isn't helping the party in control of the White House and Congress.

While the poll shows Democrats enjoying a narrow 1 point advantage over Republicans as the party that should control Congress, it also shows President Joe Biden's job approval rating remaining in the low 40s, Republicans holding a double-digit edge in enthusiasm and key Democratic groups losing interest in the upcoming election.

"There is nothing but flashing red flights and warning signs for Democrats," said McInturff, the Republican pollster.

'Bad news for the party in power'

According to the poll, 72 percent of Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction — essentially unchanged from the 71 percent who held this view in October's NBC News poll.

It marks just the sixth time in the poll's history when 70 percent or more have said the nation is on the wrong track in back-to-back surveys.

"In the three instances when this sustained dark outlook coincided with an election year, it foreshadowed bad news for the party in power — 1992, 2008 and 2016," said Horwitt, the Democratic pollster.

On the economy, while job creation is up and the unemployment rate is down, 61 percent of respondents in the poll say their family's income is falling behind the cost of living.

That's compared with 30 percent who say they're staying about even and 7 percent who say their income is going up faster than the cost of living.

On the state of the nation's politics, 70 percent agree with the statement that America has become so polarized that it can no longer solve the major issues facing the country — and that those differences will only continue to grow.

By contrast, 27 percent agree with the statement that, despite the nation's strong partisan differences, the country always comes together to solve the greatest challenges.

That's a significant shift from when this question was last asked in 2010 — when 50 percent answered that America always comes together in tough times, versus 45 percent who said that the nation's political differences would only grow.

And on the state of democracy, a whopping 76 percent of Americans — including 7 in 10 Democrats, Republicans and independents — believe there is a threat to democracy and majority rule in this country.

A look ahead to the midterms

With fewer than 300 days until the November midterm elections, the NBC News poll finds 47 percent of registered voters saying they prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress, while 46 percent want Republicans in charge.