Dems, GOP differ on priorities
Many see inflation as an issue, but poll cites other concerns
WASHINGTON — Eva Guzman’s expenses have swelled, but she feels comfortable financially thanks to the savings she and her late husband stockpiled for a rainy day. Still, the retired library clerk in San Antonio limits trips to the grocery store, adjusts the thermostat to save on utilities, and tries to help her grandchildren and great-grandchildren get what they need.
It was difficult to raise her own four children, Guzman said, but she and her husband were able to manage.
She doesn’t know how young families today stay financially afloat.
“It’s really gotten worse in this age for a lot of people,” said Guzman, 80, who identifies as a conservative and blames President Joe Biden for inflation and economic instability. “It’s really getting out of hand.”
Like Guzman, 30% of people in the country consider inflation a high priority for the country, named in an openended question of issues for the government to work on in 2023, according to a December poll from Associated PressNORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s roughly twice the percentage as a year ago, though down from 40% in June.
Overall, the economy remains a bipartisan issue.
But the poll finds Republicans and Democrats have distinct views of priorities for the country in the new year. More Republicans than Democrats name inflation, gas and food prices, energy and immigration, while Democrats focus on health care, climate change, poverty, racism, abortion and women’s rights.
Elizabeth Stephens, 41, a Democratic-leaning independent in Houston, recognizes that inflation is an issue right now. But she thinks there are other problems that the government should focus on addressing.
“Inflation comes and goes,” said Stephens, a manager working in learning and development. But issues such as poverty and health care disparities, she said, “are always there.”
There is broad skepticism from members of both parties that progress will be made on the issues about which the public most cares.
Stephens said the country is so divided that “it seems close to impossible” to imagine there would be progress this year.
Glenn Murray, 59, of Little Mountain, South Carolina, also called out the distance between the left and the right, wishing that politicians would recognize the “truth in the middle.”
Murray, a moderate Republican, thinks inflation and the economy are critical issues, and he worries that the U.S. will soon face a recession.
But he is also concerned about energy policy, suggesting the nation’s reliance on foreign oil is driving up gas prices, and he describes the surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border as “unsustainable.”
“I definitely understand that immigration is what helped build this country ... but you have to have guardrails,” said Murray, who works for a university’s audit services.
Named by 45% of Republicans, immigration is one of the GOP’s leading priorities. The Supreme Court recently extended Trumpera pandemic restrictions on people seeking asylum, as thousands of migrants gathered on the Mexico side of the border seeking to the enter the United States.
Roughly 2 in 10 Republicans also name crime, foreign policy issues, energy and health care. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to specifically name inflation, 37% versus 26%, and gas prices, 22% versus 7%.
Among Democrats, about 4 in 10 rank climate change and health care, 3 in 10 prioritize gun issues and roughly one-quarter name education and abortion or women’s rights. Roughly 2 in 10 Democrats name racism and poverty.
For Osbaldo Cruz, the country’s minimum wage is insufficient. But the Democrat, who works as an assistant manager at a fast-food restaurant, equally prioritizes climate change and gun policy, issues that have been close to his home in Las Vegas.
Seeing record temperatures and increasing waste, Cruz, 24, worries that conditions on Earth won’t be livable in the future.
“People pretty much think short term, so we never take the time to invest in proper long-term solutions,” he said.
And while he said he understands the importance of the right to bear arms, he’s concerned with how easy it is for people to get a gun.
Joseph Wiseman, 52, a Presbyterian pastor in Wichita, Kansas, wants the country to prioritize protections for women’s health care, including access to abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and LGBTQ individuals.
“I’m very concerned that basic human rights are under threat,” he said.
Wiseman, a lifelong Republican up until the past few years, is now a registered Democrat.
He said he worries about the “dangerous” shift toward authoritarianism and Christian nationalism happening in the country, especially within the GOP. Still, he has to have hope. “I have to be optimistic that the threat will be met and that basic human rights can be secured for all,” Wiseman said.