Poll: Plurality of Voters Believes Congressional Democrats Have Accomplished Less than Expected

A strong plurality of registered voters believes congressional Democrats have accomplished less than expected since taking office in January.

The Morning Consult/Politico poll asked respondents, “Thinking about congressional Democrats’ agenda and what they have been able to do since taking full control of the U.S. Congress in January 2021,” have congressional Democrats met expectations?

Forty percent said, “less than I expected,” twenty-nine percent said, “about what I expected,” and only ten percent said, “more than I expected.”

Respondents also gave President Joe Biden similar marks when the poll asked if he had met expectations. Forty percent said that “Biden has accomplished less than I expected,” while 36 percent said, “Biden has accomplished about what I expected.”

Respondents were additionally asked for which party they would vote in a congressional race if the election was today: “If the election for U.S. Congress in your district was held today, which one of the following candidates are you most likely to vote for?”

Forty-three percent said Democrat while 42 percent said Republican, a statistical tie. Fourteen percent had no opinion.

The poll comes as Democrat infighting has so far derailed President Biden’s legislative agenda. Far-left House members are unhappy with Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (D-AZ) position on the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package. Both Manchin and Sinema have said the topline $3.5 trillion is too much to spend during Biden’s inflationary period.

Far-left House Democrats responded by twice blocking a vote in the House on the $1.2 trillion “bipartisan” infrastructure bill in exchange for negotiating leverage with the two senators.

Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) offered a $2.1 trillion reconciliation package to the House Democrats, which includes items such as child care, paid leave, health care, and global warming.

But not all the items the far-left is demanding are reportedly included in Pelosi’s offer. Items that are void in the deal appear to be free community college tuition, subsidized housing, and Medicare expansion to offer dental, vision, and hearing benefits.

As a result of the differences between the “moderates” and far left, Democrat leadership on Monday delayed any action on Biden’s agenda until October 31.

The poll was conducted between October 2-4 with 1998 respondents. The margin of error is 2 percent.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø