"FEAR" - Mark Penn and Bob Cusack discuss new Harvard Harris Poll (April, 2022)

Harvard Harris Poll Debrief with Mark Penn and Bob Cusack

Each month, presidential pollster, Harris Poll Chairman and Stagwell Global Chairman & CEO MARK PENN and BOB CUSACK, Editor in Chief of The Hill discuss the findings of the latest Harvard CAPS / Harris Poll. This month's survey of 1,966 registered voters was conducted between April 20 - April 21, 2022. (Link to the full poll is here). When asked how he'd sum up the mood of the country in just one word, Penn offered "FEAR". This was also the theme of Penn's April 25 Opinion essay in The New York Times: American Voters Haven’t Been Afraid Like This in a Long Time .
"In a rare convergence, America’s voters are not merely unhappy with their political leadership, but awash in fears about economic security, border security, international security and even physical security. Without a U-turn by the Biden administration, this fear will generate a wave election like those in 1994 and 2010, setting off a chain reaction that could flip the House and the Senate to Republican control in November, and ultimately the presidency in 2024.

Take the economy, so often the harbinger of election results. From late 2017 until the pandemic, a majority of Americans believed that the economy was strong, and from 2014 until the pandemic at least a plurality believed their personal economic situation was improving. Covid-19 cut sharply into that feeling of well-being; this was initially seen as temporary, though, and trillions of dollars flowed into keeping people afloat. But then near-double-digit inflation hit consumers for the first time in 40 years; 60 percent of voters now see the economy as weak and 48 percent say their financial situation is worsening, according to a Harris poll conducted April 20-21. Many Americans under 60 have relatively little experience with anything but comparatively low fuel costs, negligible interest rates and stable prices. Virtually overnight these assumptions have been shaken. Only 35 percent approve of President Biden’s handling of inflation. FULL OP-ED