Americans dislike the Democratic and Republican Parties at about the same rates: 58% and 56%, respectively. But according to a new Gallup poll, they are a lot more likely to think that Republicans, rather than Democrats, will keep the country prosperous and safe from international terrorism and military threats in coming years.
In the next few years, 39% of Americans think that the Democratic Party will do a better job than the GOP maintaining U.S. prosperity, while 53% believe that Republicans will top Democrats in that regard, per the Gallup poll released on Tuesday.
The margin—14 percentage points—was up from 10 percentage points in 2022 and represents the GOP’s “widest advantage on this measure since mid-1991,” per Gallup.
“That followed a period from the mid-to-late 1980s when Republicans performed unusually well on this measure, historically,” according to Gallup. “However, in the past three decades, the parties have been more closely matched in perceptions of which can better maintain the nation’s economic health or the Democratic Party has led by a solid margin.”
A somewhat larger margin—22 percentage points—had greater faith that the GOP (57%) rather than the Democrats (35%) will protect the United States from international military and terrorist threats.
“The Republican Party has led on this measure in all but two readings in the trend originating in 2002, but today’s margin is one of the widest in that more limited stretch of time,” Gallup stated.
Republicans also had an edge over Democrats—44% compared to 36%—when respondents were asked to identify the problem that they thought was most pressing and to say which party best addresses that concern.
“This is at a time when the economy, government/poor leadership and immigration lead Americans’ open-ended responses when asked to name the most important problem facing the country,” per Gallup.
The latest results come from a Sept. 1 to Sept. 23 Gallup poll in which more than 80% of Americans disapproved of how Congress is performing its duties.
