December 9, 2019
Read time : 4 min

As we anticipate the upcoming 2020 election, it’s important to assess the outlook 2020 voters have on the national debt and the evolving economy.  Every month, Peter G. Peterson Foundation releases a survey to track 2020 voter sentiment on economic and fiscal issues. December’s edition of the FT-Peterson US Economic Monitor, has some interesting findings. 

Let’s dive into the December survey:

The Survey

Launched in November 2019, the survey, conducted by Democratic polling firm Global Strategy Group and Republican polling firm North Star Opinion Research, will be released every month for 12 months. The survey includes an oversample to get a closer look at voters in battleground states. Battleground states include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The second FT-Peterson poll, released on December 5, surveyed an online sample of 1,010 likely 2020 voters across socio-economic groups and across the country November 19–24. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points at 95 percent confidence level.

The Results

Key results from the December survey shows that likely 2020 voters believe that the management of the national debt is on the wrong track (36% right direction/64% wrong track). According to the survey, the share of battleground state voters who say management of the national debt is “off on the wrong track” is up by 6 points to 66%. 2020 voters are concerned that the debt could harm economic growth and threaten key programs like Social Security and Medicare.

Lack of leadership and political courage by elected officials was considered the biggest obstacle to managing the national debt with 32% of votes. Politicians refusing to consider spending cuts was the second highest obstacle with 23% of votes.

Planning to follow the survey results throughout the months leading up to the 2020 election? Start by viewing the full December results here. 

Get Involved

 

Students participate in the Up to Us Campus Competition

Up to Us is the program that empowers students to educate peers on our long-term national debt, how it could affect their economic opportunities, and what our generation can do to have a voice in raising awareness of our fiscal challenges. There are multiple ways you can get involved. 

The Up to Us pledge allows you to take direct action to let your representatives know that a fiscally sound future is important to our generation.

The annual Up to Us Competition gives select teams from colleges and universities nation-wide training and funds to run tailored campus campaigns to educate their peers and inspire collective action. By joining our annual campus competition, you can gain leadership skills while helping to ensure a strong fiscal future for our country. 

Source: FT-Peterson US Economic Monitor