November 12, 2020: Twenty-six percent (26%) of voters believe their personal finances are getting better, while another 26% say their finances are getting worse. A PoliticalIQ survey found that 45% believe their personal finances are staying about the same, and 3% are not sure.[1]
This survey was conducted last Thursday through Saturday, following Election Day. It showed a slight decline in optimism compared to a pre-election survey when 27% said better, and 25% said worse. The decline comes almost entirely from Republicans. Prior to the election, 43% of GOP voters believed their finances were getting better.[2] That fell to 36% after the election.[1]
There was little change among Democrats and independents.[1][2] However, that could shift in the near future.
Typically, Republicans are more upbeat about the economy when a Republican is in the White House and Democrats more optimistic when a Democrat is president. This particular survey was conducted after the election but before Joe Biden was declared the winner of 270 Electoral College votes. At the time, the survey found that just 49% believed Biden was the winner.[1]
Based upon historical trends, therefore, it would not be surprising to see the confidence of Democrats increase as it becomes more likely that Biden will take office. At the same time, the economic confidence of Republicans could fall further. We will conduct another survey on this topic in the coming days.
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