Latest news with #DataForProgress
Middle East Eye
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Poll: Democratic voters overwhelmingly want restrictions on military aid to Israel
New polling data from 745 likely Democratic voters across the US has shown that 71% of them want to see restrictions on military aid to Israel "until it stops attacks on civilians in Gaza, supports Palestinian rights, and commits to a long-term peace process." The poll, conducted by Data For Progress and published by Zeteo, was carried out from 9 - 14 April using SMS and web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely Democratic primary voters by age, gender, education, race, and geography, and the margin of error associated with the sample size is ±4 percentage points.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Democrats see an opening on the economy after Trump's trade war wreaks havoc on global markets
Democrats are targeting Donald Trump's weakened standing on the economy — even after the president paused his far-reaching reciprocal tariff policy that reverberated across global markets. In interviews with more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers, congressional staffers and media strategists, many in the party see a prime opportunity to attack Trump on a key campaign promise they argue he's failing to deliver — a message likely to be featured prominently in political ads if the economy continues to falter. Some candidates are already hitting tariffs in campaign launch ads, while the party is planning to capitalize on anger over the economy, among other issues, in upcoming town halls. It's an opportunity for Democrats on the economy, a major point of strength for Trump in his presidential campaign last year, even as they conceded the economic crisis had eased somewhat after the president paused some — but not all — tariffs on most countries. On Thursday afternoon, Trump clarified that the combined tariffs on Chinese goods is now at 145 percent. Most other nations will be subject to the 10 percent baseline tariff the administration levied last week. The markets reacted accordingly, with stocks plummeting at the end of the day. Now, Democrats are banking on rising panic in worldwide markets and fears of a recession to knock Republicans down. 'We heard for five freaking months going into the last election, people beating up Biden and Harris about inflation, and the price of fucking eggs,' said longtime Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher, who worked on both of Barack Obama's presidential campaigns. 'So why the hell would we make [ads] about tariffs, as opposed to making it about the economy?' He said Trump is presenting one of the most favorable gateways to Democrats in recent history, imploring Democrats not to squander the week of earned media about a near-global market implosion. 'There is an opportunity here, of historical proportions, given the advantage on the economy writ large that Republicans have had for decades,' he added. 'You see Trump underwater on handling the economy and fighting inflation and bringing down costs – that is a major opening and a historic way for Democrats to take away what has been a major positive for Republicans.' And recent polling backs up that claim that voters are waning on Trump's economic stewardship. An Economist/YouGov poll of about 1,700 American adults released Wednesday showed Trump's overall approval rating drop five percentage points from last week, combined with a four percentage-point drop in his handling of the economy. A poll from the Democratic group Navigator Research released Tuesday also showed 55 percent of 1,000 registered voters disapproving of Trump's handling of the economy, an eight percentage-point swing since the group's last poll in March. Another recent poll from the liberal group Data For Progress also showed a majority disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy. Not every poll showed dramatic changes. In a poll of 1,400 registered voters released Wednesday that was conducted April 3-7 from Quinnipiac, Trump's handling of the economy and his overall approval rating remained steady or dropped only slightly. Democrats and their affiliated groups are already blaming Trump for his scattershot tariff rollout as a way to pummel vulnerable Republicans in elections later this year and heading into the midterms. Hours before Trump announced the tariff pause, the Democratic-aligned super PAC American Bridge released audio of Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP gubernatorial nominee, praising Trump's tariff plan. Democrat Mike Sacks announced his candidacy Wednesday in a nearly two and a half minute ad. It featured an image of the word 'tariff' nine times in bold red font along with a crimson-color graphic of a stock market plunging that was superimposed over the face of his opponent, incumbent Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), widely considered one of the most vulnerable House Republicans next cycle. The Democratic-aligned group Families Over Billionaires, a nonprofit, is putting six figures into an ad running on social media and streaming platforms bashing the Trump administration over tax plans, and Democrats are planning a new round of town halls in GOP-held House districts over the upcoming recess. Democrats argue the upheaval Trump injected into the economy undercuts the central premise that he campaigned on: that as a businessperson would be best positioned to grow the economy. 'The one thing that American voters want is security and safety. What they don't want is chaos and uncertainty,' said Alex Jacquez, a former economic adviser to former president Biden who is now chief of policy for Groundwork Collaborative. 'I think why you've seen such rapid deterioration on his approvals on the economy and on cost of living, tariffs and trade, is because not a single action that he has taken has been in service of addressing people's number one concern, which is cost of living.' And that is precisely what has Democratic admakers salivating. 'Keep it simple and keep it tangible and keep it relatable to everyone's lives here,' said veteran media strategist Julian Mulvey, who has cut ads for Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris. He urged Democrats and affiliated groups to not overcomplicate their messaging by talking about esoteric economic concepts like supply chains and capital markets. Instead, he referenced the 'you break it, you own it' doctrine of politics. 'Trump is sort of charging headlong into breaking the economy and, and he's going to find out when he does,' he said. 'Or in the modern vernacular: fuck around and find out.' The White House, meanwhile, criticized the Democrats' planned strategy. 'President Trump is the first president in modern American history to take decisive action to finally corner China and restore American Greatness,' White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement. 'If Democrats see an opportunity in President Trump and Republicans standing up for everyday Americans and restoring American Greatness, they're headed for a worse election night than November 5, 2024.' Several Democratic media strategists acknowledged it's too early to say what the economy will look like when prime time campaign season hits. But that hasn't stopped progressive strategists like Chuck Rocha from storyboarding what the anti-Trump attack ads will look like in the coming months. 'The best way to deliver the ad is from one of his voters, a white guy in his 50s who works in a steel mill, works at whatever the place down the street is that says: 'Look, I don't really care about either party. I voted for Donald Trump because I thought he would change a rigged system,' Rocha said of a hypothetical ad that features someone speaking directly to camera. 'But he's even rigging it more, and he's rigging it for himself.' And that's on top of the party's already established playbook around Elon Musk's sledgehammer to government. Some Democratic ad-makers said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutinck's comments about "fraudsters" getting Social Security checks was bound to backfire. It's something that's caught the attention of lawmakers too, including Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), who won reelection in a key swing state that Trump flipped last year. The representative is one of 26 Democrats that the Republican campaign arm is targeting in the midterms. 'Market manipulation … that's what happened,' Horsford said on Wednesday. 'On the same day that they're screwing America.' Horsford was referring to Trump's social media post this week where the president proclaimed: 'THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY."
Politico
11-04-2025
- Business
- Politico
Democrats see an opening on the economy after Trump's trade war wreaks havoc on global markets
Democrats are targeting Donald Trump's weakened standing on the economy — even after the president paused his far-reaching reciprocal tariff policy that reverberated across global markets. In interviews with more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers, congressional staffers and media strategists, many in the party see a prime opportunity to attack Trump on a key campaign promise they argue he's failing to deliver — a message likely to be featured prominently in political ads if the economy continues to falter. Some candidates are already hitting tariffs in campaign launch ads, while the party is planning to capitalize on anger over the economy, among other issues, in upcoming town halls. It's an opportunity for Democrats on the economy, a major point of strength for Trump in his presidential campaign last year, even as they conceded the economic crisis had eased somewhat after the president paused some — but not all — tariffs on most countries. On Thursday afternoon, Trump clarified that the combined tariffs on Chinese goods is now at 145 percent. Most other nations will be subject to the 10 percent baseline tariff the administration levied last week. The markets reacted accordingly, with stocks plummeting at the end of the day. Now, Democrats are banking on rising panic in worldwide markets and fears of a recession to knock Republicans down. 'We heard for five freaking months going into the last election, people beating up Biden and Harris about inflation, and the price of fucking eggs,' said longtime Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher, who worked on both of Barack Obama's presidential campaigns. 'So why the hell would we make [ads] about tariffs, as opposed to making it about the economy?' He said Trump is presenting one of the most favorable gateways to Democrats in recent history, imploring Democrats not to squander the week of earned media about a near-global market implosion. 'There is an opportunity here, of historical proportions, given the advantage on the economy writ large that Republicans have had for decades,' he added. 'You see Trump underwater on handling the economy and fighting inflation and bringing down costs – that is a major opening and a historic way for Democrats to take away what has been a major positive for Republicans.' And recent polling backs up that claim that voters are waning on Trump's economic stewardship. An Economist/YouGov poll of about 1,700 American adults released Wednesday showed Trump's overall approval rating drop five percentage points from last week, combined with a four percentage-point drop in his handling of the economy. A poll from the Democratic group Navigator Research released Tuesday also showed 55 percent of 1,000 registered voters disapproving of Trump's handling of the economy, an eight percentage-point swing since the group's last poll in March. Another recent poll from the liberal group Data For Progress also showed a majority disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy. Not every poll showed dramatic changes. In a poll of 1,400 registered voters released Wednesday that was conducted April 3-7 from Quinnipiac, Trump's handling of the economy and his overall approval rating remained steady or dropped only slightly. Democrats and their affiliated groups are already blaming Trump for his scattershot tariff rollout as a way to pummel vulnerable Republicans in elections later this year and heading into the midterms. Hours before Trump announced the tariff pause, the Democratic-aligned super PAC American Bridge released audio of Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP gubernatorial nominee, praising Trump's tariff plan . Democrat Mike Sacks announced his candidacy Wednesday in a nearly two and a half minute ad . It featured an image of the word 'tariff' nine times in bold red font along with a crimson-color graphic of a stock market plunging that was superimposed over the face of his opponent, incumbent Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), widely considered one of the most vulnerable House Republicans next cycle. The Democratic-aligned group Families Over Billionaires, a nonprofit, is putting six figures into an ad running on social media and streaming platforms bashing the Trump administration over tax plans , and Democrats are planning a new round of town halls in GOP-held House districts over the upcoming recess. Democrats argue the upheaval Trump injected into the economy undercuts the central premise that he campaigned on: that as a businessperson would be best positioned to grow the economy. 'The one thing that American voters want is security and safety. What they don't want is chaos and uncertainty,' said Alex Jacquez, a former economic adviser to former president Biden who is now chief of policy for Groundwork Collaborative. 'I think why you've seen such rapid deterioration on his approvals on the economy and on cost of living, tariffs and trade, is because not a single action that he has taken has been in service of addressing people's number one concern, which is cost of living.' And that is precisely what has Democratic admakers salivating. 'Keep it simple and keep it tangible and keep it relatable to everyone's lives here,' said veteran media strategist Julian Mulvey, who has cut ads for Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris. He urged Democrats and affiliated groups to not overcomplicate their messaging by talking about esoteric economic concepts like supply chains and capital markets. Instead, he referenced the 'you break it, you own it' doctrine of politics. 'Trump is sort of charging headlong into breaking the economy and, and he's going to find out when he does,' he said. 'Or in the modern vernacular: fuck around and find out.' The White House, meanwhile, criticized the Democrats' planned strategy. 'President Trump is the first president in modern American history to take decisive action to finally corner China and restore American Greatness,' White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement. 'If Democrats see an opportunity in President Trump and Republicans standing up for everyday Americans and restoring American Greatness, they're headed for a worse election night than November 5, 2024.' Several Democratic media strategists acknowledged it's too early to say what the economy will look like when prime time campaign season hits. But that hasn't stopped progressive strategists like Chuck Rocha from storyboarding what the anti-Trump attack ads will look like in the coming months. 'The best way to deliver the ad is from one of his voters, a white guy in his 50s who works in a steel mill, works at whatever the place down the street is that says: 'Look, I don't really care about either party. I voted for Donald Trump because I thought he would change a rigged system,' Rocha said of a hypothetical ad that features someone speaking directly to camera. 'But he's even rigging it more, and he's rigging it for himself.' And that's on top of the party's already established playbook around Elon Musk's sledgehammer to government . Some Democratic ad-makers said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutinck's comments about 'fraudsters' getting Social Security checks was bound to backfire. It's something that's caught the attention of lawmakers too, including Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), who won reelection in a key swing state that Trump flipped last year. The representative is one of 26 Democrats that the Republican campaign arm is targeting in the midterms. 'Market manipulation … that's what happened,' Horsford said on Wednesday. 'On the same day that they're screwing America.' Horsford was referring to Trump's social media post this week where the president proclaimed: 'THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY.'
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Polling shows strong support for clean energy among Michiganders amid state and federal GOP pushback
Solar panels in Meridian Township | Susan With Gov. Gretchen Whitmer introducing her MI Healthy Climate Plan in 2022 and Democrats setting a goal of 100% clean energy by 2035, Michigan's leaders — and its voters — have shown strong support for efforts to shift to green energy sources. According to recent polling from Data For Progress, a progressive think tank, and Evergreen Action, an advocacy group focused on climate action, 62% of Michiganders support the state's clean energy standard while 34% stood in opposition. From Jan. 28 to Jan. 30, Data For Progress surveyed 566 likely voters who responded to a web panel. The sample was weighted to represent likely voters by age, gender, education, race, geography and recalled presidential vote. Participants were sorted based on self-identified party affiliation, not party registration. The survey's margin of error is four percentage points, though Data For Progress notes this may be higher for the subgroups. Courtney Brady, Evergreen Action's Midwest deputy director, said the 2024 election sent shockwaves across the country, and with media coverage muddling the view of where voters stand on energy issues, the survey aims to understand where the average voter — particularly independents — stands post election. Support for 100% clean energy by 2035 was particularly strong among Democrats, according to the poll, with 85% saying they somewhat or strongly supported a full transition to clean energy over the next decade. The state's clean energy efforts also saw support from 61% of independents and 42% of Republicans. Alongside placing a clean energy standard into state law, Michigan officials have worked to leverage business opportunities heralded by the shift to green energy, as well as supporting workers whose jobs could be displaced as industries transition away from fossil fuels. According to the poll, 79% of all voters surveyed either somewhat, or strongly support policies that will create clean energy and manufacturing jobs. Party-line support comes in at 93% of Democrats, 78% of independents and 68% of Republicans. Multiple reports from the communications firm Climate Power have pointed to Michigan's status as a clean energy leader, securing more clean energy projects than any other state following former President Joe Biden's efforts to boost renewables and support electric vehicle manufacturing through federal subsidies, spurring at least 751 projects across the nation. However, with President Donald Trump pledging to eliminate Biden's climate and energy policies, and the Trump administration blocking climate spending, the future of many programs is uncertain. Following a presentation of Whitmer's fiscal year 2026 executive budget proposal, Phil Roos, the director of Michigan's Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy, told reporters that federal funding was vital to its programming, totaling about $500 million across the department with a good chunk of those funds being put toward energy transition efforts. Alongside support and buy-in for clean energy efforts, the permitting and build out of clean energy efforts is vital as the state aims to hit its clean energy goals. Overall 73% of voters said it was important to make it easier for new clean energy projects to be built, according to the poll. While 87% of Democrats said it was important for clean energy projects to receive easy approval for construction, Republicans and independents showed smaller majorities, with 68% of independents and 65% of Republicans' agreeing it is important. As part of the Democrats' clean energy package, lawmakers approved two bills seeking to streamline permitting for large-scale renewable energy projects. The bills place permitting for solar energy developments with a capacity of 50 megawatts or more; wind facilities with 100 megawatts or more; and energy storage facilities with a capacity of 50 megawatts or more and a discharge capacity of 200 megawatts or greater — under the control of the Michigan Public Service Commission, the state's energy regulator. However, Republicans called the effort a power grab, arguing the bills stripped permitting authority away from Michigan communities. The final version of the law requires energy developers to work with municipalities whose permitting process mirrors the state's, giving the parties 120 days to reach an agreement with the potential for an 120 day extension. However, if the community fails to approve or deny an application in a timely manner, if the local zoning process is stricter than the standards outlined in the law, or if a project meets the standards outlined in the law but is denied, then the developer can submit a permitting application to the Public Service Commission. In the House, members of the new Republican majority have already introduced an effort to repeal these changes, with Rep. Gregory Alexander's (R-Carsonville) House Bills 4027 and 4028. Additionally, 72 townships and seven counties have filed a suit to block the public service commission from implementing the new zoning law. While Republicans and the opposition have made repeated attempts to get the zoning changes off the books, a referendum attempting to repeal the law failed to get enough signatures to make the 2024 and the 2026 ballot, while previous bills aiming to eliminate the permitting changes also failed, Brady said. 'People want to make it easier to site these things. They want to see the investment come. They want people to be able to do what they want with their land, and they want the job creation, and also, later down the road, cheaper energy costs because we're integrating more resources into the grid,' Brady said. 'I think there's a big mismatch between what the loudest opposition, minor opposition, is saying, and really what the reality is for voters,' she said. Alongside questions on the state's clean energy laws, the survey asked voters about several efforts to support individuals facing high energy costs, transition gas-powered vehicles to electric vehicles as well as their frustrations with the state's electricity utility companies. In addition to their support for the state's clean energy goal, the survey found a majority of voters also supported expanding Michigan's home repair program — which can lower energy costs by $145 per year by making them more energy efficient — and its program offering rebates for energy efficiency improvements, which is expected to launch in March. Michigan voters also broadly supported efforts to support electric vehicles, with 58% in favor of the legislature taking action to expand EV chargers across the state, while 57% supported expanding rebates and other financial assistance for purchasing electric vehicles. The legislature should also take action to help Michigan schools leverage federal funds to replace aging school buses with new electric models, according to 64% of voters surveyed. Additionally, 75% of voters surveyed supported efforts to improve and upgrade public transit in the state, as well as expanding access to buses and light rail. Environmental justice was also a strong value for many of the voters surveyed, with 79% agreeing the state should prioritize action to address pollution in areas that face a higher burden. The poll also highlighted Michiganders' frustrations with energy companies in the state, with Michigan rated among the worst in the nation for energy reliability, according to a report from the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan, which advocates for the state's energy consumers. Voters demanded greater transparency from their utility companies, with 85% saying they would support legislative action requiring companies to be more transparent in their decisions to respond to and prevent power outages. They also sought greater transparency on the general decision making within these companies, with 83% in support. The voters also generally agreed there is more action the Legislature could be taking, with 64% saying lawmakers should be doing more to ensure energy companies are keeping costs affordable, while 51% said they should be doing more to protect the state power grid from severe weather, which has caused several lengthy outages across the state. Forty-eight percent said legislators should be doing more to ensure these companies aren't taking action to delay the adoption of clean energy.
