Republicans More Enthused for Biden-Trump Rematch as Inflation and Economy Lead Poll Priorities

A new national poll released by the Monmouth University Polling Institute shows that Republicans are significantly more enthusiastic about a potential rematch between President Biden and former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election than either Democrats or independent voters. The enthusiasm for this match-up among all registered voters has increased to 39% over the past year, according to Murray, director of Monmouth University Polling Institute. However, most voters are not enthusiastic about another November face-off between these two candidates. Sixty-three percent of Republicans questioned expressed high enthusiasm for a Biden-Trump rematch compared to only 36% among Democrats and 27% among independents. The poll also indicates that support for Kennedy Jr., the longtime environmental activist, is minimal as he received support from just 18% of those surveyed who dislike both President Biden and former President Trump. Murray highlighted that if Kennedy cannot secure a decisive win with these voters, it’s unclear what role he can play in this election other than serving as an insignificant spoiler to potentially narrowly decide the close contest between Biden and Trump. The poll results suggest that inflation (38%) and economic growth and jobs (37%), including high ratings of job dissatisfaction, are the most important issues for voters during the presidential campaign. Republicans’ top-ranking concerns in this election include immigration at 56%, followed by inflation with a close rating of 53%. Meanwhile, abortion is ranked as the highest priority issue among Democrats (44%). Murray noted that when partisan voters name their most important issues for voting during this presidential campaign, they do so out of enthusiasm and motivating reasons instead. Ultimately, inflated inflation scores represent pivotal aspects impacting election voter selections rather than candidates’ positions on the matter at hand. The Monmouth University Poll was conducted from April 18-22 with a sample size of 808 adults nationwide questioned by telephone. Its overall sampling error is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.