October 2021

The October 2021 Battleground and Civility Poll found that voter frustration and a growing sense that the country is headed in the wrong direction is resulting in a sharp decline in approval ratings for President Biden and both parties in Congress. The poll found that 63% of voters believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, up from 56% in June.  President Biden’s approval rating has dropped to 45% today, down from 53% in June.  And both parties in Congress have also seen a decline, with Democrats sitting at 39% approval and Republicans faring the worst with only 27% approval rating. Voters are not only unhappy with the current direction of the country, but the poll shows a growing sense of pessimism that things will get worse.  A full 66% of voters believe the economy will be worse off for the next generation.  When asked what they think the level of polarization in our country will be like in one year compared to now, voters believe it will get worse. Furthermore, the pollsters created a new voter segmentation for the October poll analysis and found that nearly two-thirds of voters self-identified as neither a “very conservative Republican” nor a “very liberal Democrat,” suggesting the existence of a potentially sizeable centrist coalition. The poll reflects attitudes from independent, Republican, and Democratic registered voters on pressing national issues such as Covid vaccine mandates, election reform, and student loan debt.

The poll was conducted between October 16, 2021 and October 21, 2021. 

View the full press release with detailed results here, or click on the links below to view data and individual summaries from Lake Research Partners and The Tarrance Group: