A new poll shows Republican and Democratic voters in the so-called “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin support small-government economic policies long championed by the GOP.
The poll, released by the Pinpoint Policy Institute, found strong majorities backing less government regulation of the economy, lower federal income taxes, and promoting more U.S. trade abroad.
“Some have argued that today’s Republican Party has moved away from the traditional pro-growth, free market Republican agenda. This survey demonstrates that a winning GOP coalition is still rooted in policies that support lower taxes, less government, and more free markets,” wrote pollster Bob Ward with Fabrizio Ward, who conducted the poll.
Former President Donald Trump’s rise in the Republican Party has sparked a debate over what economists call “industrial policy.” Should the federal government favor certain businesses and industries in the name of the national interest, or should the free market pick winners and losers? Populist Republicans, sometimes referred to as the “New Right,” tend to support the former. Traditional small-government conservatives reject industrial policy and back free-market economics.
“[Voters] have preferences that reject a broader role for the federal government. They reject higher taxes, they reject industrial policy that subsidizes industry, they believe in promoting trade that opens markets for American goods, and they reject heavy-handed regulations,” Gordon Gray, executive director of the Pinpoint Policy Institute, told DVJournal in a podcast interview.
Respondents don’t want the so-called “Trump tax cuts” phased out, and they don’t want to spend billions boosting private industries. Perhaps the most surprising finding, more than 80 percent of voters believe “workers should have a right to work whether they’re represented by a labor union or not,” also known as “right to work.”
“That was an absolute dunker,” Gray said of the results.
The same poll also found Trump leading Harris 47 to 46 percent in Pennsylvania. Incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) led his GOP challenger Dave McCormick 46 to 43 percent.
“Our data shows that good policy is good politics,” said Gray.
“The polling data shows that both Republican and swing voters across the industrial Midwest roundly reject the higher taxes and big government interventions advanced in recent years by so-called ‘new right’ populist players.”
“Pro-growth policies are the best path for our economic future, and also popular across America – including in these key Midwestern battleground states.”
According to the poll, more than 60 percent of “ticket-splitters” — people willing to vote for Democrats and Republicans — support free markets.
When it came to a federal industrial policy, 71 percent of Blue Wall voters – including 74 percent of “ticket-splitters” – prefer the free market over government oversight.
Communication is key, Gray says.
“You need to articulate why these policies will improve prosperity. And part of that is [that] free markets and free market economics and the policies that underpin them will ameliorate inflationary pressures,” he said.
The full podcast can be heard here.
Please follow DVJournal on social media: X@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal
