and the razzie goes to… katie britt!

you’re SOTU thousand and late

Want to know how last night’s speech went for President Biden? MAGA Republicans are claiming he was replaced by a stunt double, Trump is playing with Snapchat filters, and their party leaders are freaking out about Katie Britt’s rebuttal speech straight out of The Handmaid's Tale. So all in all, besides a few choice words… this was a strong performance from Biden. He successfully amped up Democrats around the country by repeatedly calling out his “predecessor” and forcefully advocating for protecting democracy and progressive economic policies.

Ahead of the State of the Union, we polled voters and found that they still aren’t sure what Biden has accomplished as president — most voters do not believe that Biden has lowered the unemployment rate, invested in infrastructure, or reduced costs for prescription drugs.

It’s still March, which means Biden has a lot more time until November to remind voters about his popular policies and accomplishments — and last night’s State of the Union was a good start. From protecting Social Security funding and capping out-of-pocket insulin costs to taking on corporate price gouging and increasing taxes on billionaires, Biden emphasized policies that are popular with the vast majority of voters. Now he just needs to connect those sentiments to his re-election campaign.

Admittedly, it’s hard to get Americans to pay attention to anything these days — and it may have been better for C-SPAN to air the State of the Union with a split screen of Subway Surfers. But the data shows that there’s more Biden can do to remind voters of the stakes of the election, including the threat Trump poses to abortion rights and democracy.

Read the full poll here.

Here are some other highlights from DFP this week:

Hey siri, play alaska by maggie rogers

If you’ve been lucky enough to visit Alaska, you know it’s a pretty unique place — from the state’s natural beauty to its diverse cultures and languages. But Alaska’s not unique in one thing: its voters supporting policies that benefit working families and investments in education and climate.

Our new polling in Alaska finds that a majority of Alaska likely voters support a large increase to the Base Student Allocation — or the amount of money that public schools receive per student each year from the state government. Additionally, 66% of likely voters in Alaska support House Bill 89 to expand child care subsidies.

The poll also finds strong support among Alaska voters for ramping up renewable energy generation and requiring insurance to cover up to a 12-month supply of contraceptives when prescribed.

Look, Alaskans know how to handle tough situations. Just this week, a competitor in the Iditarod dog sledding competition was penalized for failing to properly gut a moose he killed on the race course. But Alaska voters still deserve a government that provides them with strong benefits and a better future for Alaskans across the state.

Read the full poll here.

Voters: they’ve got issues

As pollsters at Data for Progress, our job is basically to ask voters: “What’s your problem?” And for the past few years, they’ve been telling us its the economy, jobs, and inflation.

We recently rolled out our new way of asking about issue importance, asking voters to select their most important and second-most important issues when deciding which candidate to vote for. We then provide respondents with follow-up questions to specifically determine what factors are motivating their choice.

While immigration has once again risen in importance as a top issue for voters, inflation and other economic concerns are still at the top of their minds. The cost of food was the top concern for 68% of voters worried about inflation, followed by housing (17%), utilities (8%), and gas (3%).

There’s lots of things that could change the issues voters care about between now and November 2024 — a horrible Supreme Court decision, a Trump conviction, a massive meteor headed directly towards Earth… but in any case, Data for Progress will be surveying voters throughout the year to see what issues are going to shape who Americans vote for this year.

Read the full poll here.

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