Economy Dominates Many Voters’ Minds as They Head to the Polls

President Joe Biden has repeatedly said that the U.S. economy is "the envy of the world." That message, however, doesn't seem to be resonating with many voters who are heading to the polls to elect the next president on Nov. 5.

In battleground states, dozens of voters interviewed by The Epoch Times said that the economy is one of their top concerns and discussed how their lives have been affected by rising costs over the past four years.

Maria Orozco, a nurse from Fort Valley, Georgia, is a supporter of former President Donald Trump who says the economy is her single most important issue.

"I don't think it's in good state, to be honest. It could do a lot better. I'm hoping for a change," she told The Epoch Times on Oct. 28.

"No matter how much money you're making or how many extra jobs you're picking up, your money isn't lasting the way it used to. It doesn't stretch as far for groceries and everything else in general," she said.

Latest polls show the presidential race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is a statistical tie.

Nearly 93 percent of Trump supporters cited the economy as very important to their vote, while 68 percent of Harris supporters said the same thing.

Carolyn Strickland, a Trump supporter from Atlanta is disappointed that women's rights, particularly the abortion issue, has dominated much of the election discussion this year.

"Honestly, I think our economy needs to be stabilized and we need to reduce our national debt," she told The Epoch Times on Oct. 27.

As a college student, Stickland feels the struggle of trying to buy groceries and make ends meet each week.

She wants a healthier economy and a country with fewer illegal immigrants.

"I want to see a happier America overall," she said.

During a press briefing on Oct. 30, Jared Bernstein, who chairs the White House Council of Economic Advisers, presented a chart showing how the U.S. economy has outperformed other advanced economies since the pandemic. In another chart, he said, Biden has achieved the highest cumulative economic growth of any recent president.

But public perception remains stubbornly negative.

In a recent poll by the Associated Press-NORC, seven in 10 respondents said the country is going in the wrong direction.

During an interview a few weeks ago, he mentioned that he had not yet decided who to support.

"This year, it's going to boil down to people like me," he said, referring to which party will control Congress and the White House in 2025. "I flip back and forth; I don't have a political allegiance."

Goodman said his finances have gotten tighter over the past four years. He wants to move, but he can't afford a mortgage with the current high rates hovering around 8 percent.

Inflation ties in with the country's biggest problem, which is the open southern border, he said.

"We've got to shut it down."

Goodman said if Harris wants to use taxpayer dollars to build affordable homes, then she needs to stop letting illegal immigrants into the country.

He complained about the price of groceries and eating out.

Shahan Mirza from Pittsburgh calls himself independent, but he's leaning toward Trump in this election.

"The stock market is going up and the unemployment rate is going down, but inflation is really killing us right now. We can't afford anything," the accounting and finance student at Penn State University said at an Oct. 26 Trump rally in Pennsylvania. "Inflation is still ravaging."

His classmate Shivani Kohl agreed.

"I support Trump on all the policies besides his stand on abortion," Kohl said.

Numerous polls have shown that when it comes to the economy, voters are more inclined to favor Trump over Biden and Harris.

Surveys also reveal a significant gap between the positive economic data released by the government and the realities voters face in their daily lives.

Biden issued a statement on Oct. 30, celebrating the third quarter GDP report, which showed 2.8 percent growth.

"Since I took office, the economy has grown 12.6 percent, we've had the lowest average unemployment in 50 years, 16 million jobs have been created, and incomes have risen $4,000 more than inflation," Biden said in the statement.

"While critics thought we'd need a recession to lower inflation, instead we've grown around 3 percent a year on average, while inflation has fallen to the level right before the pandemic," he said.

Annual inflation peaked at 9.1 percent in June 2022.

While the rate of inflation has significantly slowed after the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes, prices have surged by more than 20 percent since Biden took office. Since January 2021, prices have risen by 23 percent for food, approximately 38 percent for gasoline, and more than 23 percent for housing, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Harris has struggled to differentiate herself from Biden's record on inflation, the controversial Afghanistan withdrawal, and the Gaza crisis. This has affected her approval ratings, according to strategists.

In a recent interview with The Epoch Times, Karen Hult, a political science professor at Virginia Tech, agreed that this has presented a dilemma for the Harris campaign.

However, Hult emphasized the difficulties in changing public perceptions regarding inflation.

"I am not too much affected by it. I'm retired. My wife's retired. We're doing okay," Reilly said at a Harris campaign rally on Oct. 14 in his hometown.

Reilly, who worked as a retail manager for 45 years before retiring, said that his vote in this year's election is not influenced by any specific policy issue.

"It's about freedom. It's about the Constitution," he said. "This election is not about policy for me."

On Oct. 26, the first day of early voting in Michigan, locals shared a range of views on the state of America's economy.

"Worldwide, we're in good shape," Bill Keller said at an early voting center in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

Yet the Harris supporter worried that anger over grocery prices might be eroding support for Democrats in Michigan.

Emma Wolford, another voter from Farmington Hills, voiced her frustration with Harris's approach to inflation.

"It frightens me to hear a candidate say that they can bring the prices down," said Wolford, who supports Trump.

To Wolford, whose family moved from England when she was a child to avoid what she describes as encroaching socialism, Harris's talk of altering corporations' prices sounds "a little socialist."

Michelle Stankus waited roughly an hour in line to vote in Waterford Oaks, Michigan.

Harris supporter Stankus believes the American economy has regained its footing following COVID-19.

She acknowledged the high prices driving many complaints by Americans. She suggested she was comfortable with the tradeoff between financial costs and a prized value.

"I'd rather pay extra for a gallon of gas and still have my rights," she said, referring to abortion access.

Surprisingly, some Michiganders with diverse political views agreed on one point: Trump's tariffs on China could benefit their state.

As part of his platform, Trump proposes tariffs of at least 60 percent on Chinese imports and a 10 percent universal tariff on all imported goods.

Some critics argue that these tariffs could lead to higher prices for Americans.

"The economy is my biggest competition when I'm selling," said early voter Andy Kollin from Michigan, who works in sales. "Things are expensive."

The Harris supporter has found that Trump's pro-tariff message resonates in Michigan, a state built in large part on heavy industries that could stand to gain from protection.

"There's been a lot of election talk in my sales calls that I make every day, and certainly, tariffs come up," he said.

Farnsworth Howard, a retired union representative for the United Autoworkers, also sounded positive about protective trade measures championed by Trump. He and his wife voted for the former president in early voting in Michigan.

"They should pay their fair share," Howard said of the United States's foreign industrial competitors.

Diane Dawson, 50, from Chester County, Pennsylvania, plans to vote for Harris. She feels that Harris will tackle rising prices and hold corporations accountable for price gouging.

"Economy is tough. Yes, I agree. Prices are high. However, we're doing way better than we were four years ago when Donald Trump was exiting office. My 401K is going up," she said.

"However, I do believe that a lot of companies have taken advantage of what happened in COVID. I have a friend who lives in Florida. She tells me she pays $12 for a dozen eggs, and I'm like, 'I don't pay that much. I pay $4 for eggs. So, I think your grocery store is clearly taking advantage of you.' I think Kamala Harris is going to do something about it."

David Munson, an early voter in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sought to see it from all angles. The health of the economy, Munson said, "depends on your perspective."

It isn't so bad for "those that have the ability to earn more income," he said.

But for those like him, who live on a fixed income, life has been harder.

Joshua Philipp and Darlene McCormick Sanchez contributed to this report.