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If Democrats take over Congress, Republican voters are worried they'll move too far to the left and enact socialist policies. If Republicans keep control, Democrats fret about President Donald Trump having unchecked power.
Those are the findings from a new CNBC poll that shows what each side of the political divide fears about the other as the midterm election looms. Republicans in the survey also say they worry about weakened border security and higher taxes under a Democratic Congress. Democrats say they're concerned about continued Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportations and ongoing military efforts in Iran under a Republican one.
"That totally shows the polarization … and the fear that one side is going to completely undo the agenda of the other," Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist and co-founder of ROKK Solutions, said of the results. "What Republicans are worried about is that Democrats are going to go back to the way it was during the Biden administration."
The results of the latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey — conducted between Oct. 14 and 18 and including 1,000 registered voters — could serve as a warning for both parties after the election. Both Democrats and Republicans have struggled with low favorability amid widespread distrust of the government.
If Democrats lurch too far to the left and adopt Democratic Socialists of America policies, they could squander the gains some forecasts project they could make in many heavily Republican parts of the country, said Lucas Holtz, a senior political advisor at Third Way, a center-left think tank.
"They should not misread their mandate if they hope to retain the inroads that they're making this cycle with Latino voters, with working-class voters, who they have been hemorrhaging cycle after cycle," Holtz said.
And Republicans should understand that voters in this moment want to change course, Bonjean said.
"Voters absolutely want change from the way things are going now, but they also don't want to go back to the way things were when Democrats ran Washington," Bonjean said. "The branding is so bad on the Democratic side, and it's not great on the Republican side."
Respondents were able to select up to two of their biggest concerns in the event that Democrats or Republicans control Congress, which don't necessarily indicate their top electoral priorities. The CNBC survey by Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies separately asked people to name the most important issues facing the country. In answering that question, affordability issues ranked highly across the political spectrum, while Democrats and independents also listed government corruption as a top priority, and Republicans listed immigration and border security.
Still, the concerns expressed by voters about what the opposing party might do in office reflect the messages in the political advertising that is blanketing much of the country in the final days before the midterm election, according to Alex Jacquez, senior vice president of policy, advocacy, and research at Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive think tank. Democrats on the campaign trail have hammered Trump for his alleged corruption and Republicans have attempted to paint Democrats as overly progressive.
"For Democrats, the main attack ads [targeting them] have ... been about DSA and they've been about the cultural issues that Republicans are trying to hit to tie them to a kind of a far-left or radical movement," Jacquez said. "But the overall vibe of the election is still first and foremost about the economy, people tend to blame the president for prices and Congress for enabling him."
If Democrats gain control of Congress, 22% of all voters said they are concerned about them failing to bring down prices, including 31% of Democrats, 22% of independents and 15% of Republicans. In the event the GOP retains the gavels in the House and Senate, 24% of voters said they worry whether prices will come down, including 32% of Republicans, 22% of independents and 17% of Democrats.
But those worries trail fears about checking Trump and policies associated with the DSA, a political organization that has notched recent wins in places like New York City, Washington and Denver and advocates progressive social and populist economic policies.
Of all voters polled, 44% said they fear Trump would be allowed to operate beyond his constitutional power, including 74% of Democrats and 45% of independents. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they are concerned with the implementation of DSA policies, including 54% of Republicans and 22% of independents.