{"id":8254,"date":"2026-07-28T17:36:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T17:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8254"},"modified":"2026-07-28T17:36:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T17:36:20","slug":"republicans-midterm-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8254","title":{"rendered":"Republicans\u2019 midterm problems"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Affordability and cost of living are voters\u2019 top priorities, Republican strategists say. (Matt Rourke\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

President Donald Trump is deeply unpopular, as are some of his major policies. A sizable chunk of the voters who do like him aren\u2019t very excited about voting in the midterm elections, while Democrats seem very motivated <\/a>to change the balance of power in Congress and at the state level.<\/p>

Read more Kentucky Gov. Beshear demands McConnell \u2018prove capacity to serve\u2019 or resign<\/a><\/p>\n

The top three issues for <\/b>voters are the economy, the Iran war and immigration, a Washington Post-Ipsos poll<\/a> taken earlier this month found. Voters disapprove of Trump\u2019s handling of all of those.<\/p>\n

Affordability and cost of living are particularly top of mind for voters right now, say Republican strategists. And while the data on the economy is mixed, voters have little good to say about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe economy? I got two words: It sucks,\u201d Michigan business owner Armetris Hare told my Post colleagues<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe voted for Trump,\u201d three-time Trump voter Lance Sulentic of Iowa told my Post colleagues<\/a>, \u201cand he did the opposite of what he said he was going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voters also don\u2019t really understand Trump\u2019s signature legislative accomplishment, the tax-and-spending bill known as the One Big Beautiful Bill. A new Politico poll<\/a> finds that nearly half of Americans say they can\u2019t explain it, and those who can are more likely to say that it\u2019s the wealthy who benefit but not them.<\/p>\n

Many of the provisions do benefit businesses and the wealthy. And if the stated goal of the measures was job creation, that can take a while to manifest. Meanwhile, hiring has slowed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To help pay for extending Trump\u2019s tax cuts from 2017, the bill made large cuts<\/a> to social services (including food stamps and Medicaid) that are just now beginning to hit Americans. Millions of Americans have lost food assistance<\/a>, including children.<\/p>\n

The Republican Party brand isn\u2019t quite as damaged as Trump\u2019s popularity seems to be. For decades, Republicans have had an edge among voters as the party they most trust to handle the economy; the GOP still has a slight advantage on that front, the Post-Ipsos poll finds.<\/p>\n

As for policies, Republicans say they can run on the tax cuts, new tax breaks for tips and overtime, and \u201cTrump accounts,\u201d<\/a> a program offering a $1,000 one-time deposit in new investment accounts for children.<\/p>

Read more Netanyahu returns to a skeptical Trump as Iran war grinds on<\/a><\/p>\n

Tax refunds on average were higher this year because of Republicans\u2019 tax cuts. But those may be fizzling out as Americans used the extra money to keep up their spending as the Iran war raised costs, economists say.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s evidence in polling that Republican voters who can be persuaded to go out and vote in November are more motivated by immigration, taxes and crime than other issues. That could help explain Trump\u2019s focus on the Save America Act, with strict voting restrictions designed to prevent undocumented immigrants from voting (a statistically rare act that recently happened in New Jersey<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s efforts to get Republicans to redraw congressional lines may also help his party blunt Democrats\u2019 enthusiasm edge. It will take significantly more Democrats to come out and vote than Republicans to win some of these supposedly swing districts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough House Republicans have a three-seat majority on paper,\u201d writes Erin Covey, an analyst with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report<\/a>, \u201cthey have effectively created an eight-or-nine seat cushion in November thanks to the states they gerrymandered to their benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, finally, Democrats have their own problems. Centrists Democrats are concerned about nominating far-left democratic socialists<\/a> in such must-win states as Michigan<\/a>. \u201cIt plays right into the stereotype of Democrats that the woke left is running the party,\u201d said Arizona-based Republican strategist Stan Barnes, whose state has several competitive House races.<\/p>\n

And the Democratic Party apparatus is struggling<\/a> with fundraising, with donors still stinging from the party\u2019s 2024 presidential loss.<\/p>\n

But the deciding factor, strategists say, is simply who votes in November.<\/p>\n

The Post-Ipsos poll<\/a> shows that among voters who say they are absolutely certain to vote in November, Democrats have a 10-percentage-point advantage over Republicans, which would go a long way toward helping them overcome gerrymandering and retake the House \u2014 and even have a chance to take back the Senate.<\/p>\n

Amber Phillips<\/i><\/a> writes <\/i>The 5-Minute Fix newsletter<\/i><\/a>, a quick analysis of the day\u2019s biggest political news. <\/i>Send her an email here<\/i><\/a>, or <\/i>ask a question<\/i><\/a> that could be featured in an upcoming newsletter. <\/i><\/p>

Read more Lawmakers mourn Lindsey Graham ahead of his funeral at Washington National Cathedral<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The hurdles to the GOP keeping control of Congress seem to be getting higher as the elections near.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nRepublicans\u2019 midterm problems - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8254\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Republicans\u2019 midterm problems - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The hurdles to the GOP keeping control of Congress seem to be getting higher as the elections near.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8254\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-28T17:36:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f109bec4ce687ab12801947712f938b0-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8254#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8254\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Republicans\u2019 midterm problems\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-28T17:36:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8254\"},\"wordCount\":778,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8254#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/35e2c4d350b288992bbf85e54786df39-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8254#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8254\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8254\",\"name\":\"Republicans\u2019 midterm problems - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8254#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8254#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/35e2c4d350b288992bbf85e54786df39-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-28T17:36:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8254#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8254\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8254#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/35e2c4d350b288992bbf85e54786df39-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/35e2c4d350b288992bbf85e54786df39-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"FILE- Voting booths are set up at a polling place in Newtown, Pa, April 23, 2024. 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