Discussing how voters judge presidents and the unreliability of early polls in predicting election outcomes. Exploring the Republicans' Electoral College advantage and the impact of upcoming trials. Analyzing the role of voters' perceptions of the economy and their evaluation of presidential performance. Exploring the decline in ruling parties' vote share after economic crises and the rise of populism. Debating between using polls or fundamentals to predict elections and the potential insights from prediction markets.
Early polls in January are not predictive of the election outcome, but this time people may be more attentive to the race due to the familiarity with Trump.
Partisanship and ideological proximity heavily influence voters' economic perceptions, often overriding objective economic conditions when evaluating the president's performance.
Deep dives
Early polls not predictive
Early polls in January have no predictive power for the election outcome. Historically, early polls in December before the election also don't matter. However, this time around, people might be more attentive to the presidential race early on, and the fact that people already know Trump, compared to a lesser-known candidate like Nikki Haley, may influence the early polls.
The divergence between the perceived and real economy
There is a divergence between how people perceive the economy and the actual economic performance. People's subjective perceptions of the economy often follow the objective indicators as the election approaches. However, in certain instances like 2008 and 2012, perceptions didn't have a significant impact on the election outcome. The current uncertainty lies in whether perceptions will align with the objective indicators and whether the leading economic indicators will show improvement or not.
Polarization and its effect on economic perceptions
Polarization plays a significant role in shaping individuals' economic perceptions. Economic evaluations are heavily influenced by party affiliation and ideological proximity to the president. Voters' economic perceptions can change drastically based on who wins the election. For instance, in 2008, Republicans became more negative about the economy after Obama's victory, and in 2016, Democrats became more negative after Trump's victory. Partisanship often overrides objective economic conditions when evaluating the president's performance.
The influence of fundamentals and polling quality
While the fundamentals, such as the economy, traditionally play a role in predicting election outcomes, the current state of polling quality raises doubts about the effectiveness of these predictions. With the decline in response rates and the use of online panels, there are concerns about the accuracy of polls. While prediction markets can incorporate additional information, they often reflect the same trends shown in polls. As the campaign progresses and uncertainty lingers, the accuracy of polls and the role of fundamentals may become clearer.
Despite relatively strong economic data, the public is sour, judging President Biden poorly and putting him even or below former President Trump in early polling. How will polls and economic assessments evolve as we approach the 2024 election? Robert Erikson finds that early polls are not predictive but that presidents will eventually be judged by their economic standing. He’s co-produced some of the most important scholarship on using polls to predict elections and understanding how citizens judge the president based on economic expectations.
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