Recent polling suggests that Democrats may not obtain the boost from young voters these were hoping for this November, following a announcement of President Biden's sweeping student loan debt forgiveness plan.
According to data released on Monday by progressive polling group Data for Progress, Americans ages 18 to 29 rank student loan debt settlement fairly have less their list of policy priorities for Congressional candidates. Only 8 percent of young people rank the topic as among their top three issues of concern. Thus, while the Biden administration seems to be banking on debt settlement to achieve votes during November's upcoming midterms, Data for Progress' polling suggests that young people's apparent focus on the issue might have been overblown.
In August, President Biden announced a student loan debt forgiveness plan which aims to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for borrowers making under $125,000 each year, and married people making under $250,000. The program would also overhaul already-existing Income-Driven Repayment plans (IDRs), dramatically reducing the amount individuals in such plans could be required to repay before loan forgiveness. In most, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the plan will cost $400 billion, excluding IDR and other loan program changes.
Despite the plan's cost, it remains broadly well-liked by young people. According to Data for Progress, 65 percent of surveyed 18 -29-year-olds expressed approval of Biden's education loan forgiveness plan-even though only 49 percent of respondents reported having or expecting to have education loan debt at some point in their lives. However, as the policy is viewed favorably among nearly two-thirds of young voters, the same number of voters doesn't view the policy like a major priority either-something that could spell trouble for Democrats.
In its survey of young adults, Data for Progress' asked participants to pick three policy issues from a pool of 16 to rank his or her \”most important issues for a candidate for Congress to focus on.\” While student debt relief is a well-liked policy, it had been also among the least popular issues of top concern. Only 8 percent of respondents listed the problem among their top three, placing the subject close to the bottom of respondents' priorities.
In contrast, economic issues took the top spots among survey respondents. Inflation, abortion rights, and jobs and the economy were typically the most popular issues cited as top priorities for Congressional candidates, with every subject contained in over 30 % of respondents' lists. \”Government spending and also the budget deficit,\” while not cracking the very best half of important topics, still appeared in 12 percent of respondents' top concerns-four points more than for student debt relief.
This polling data paint a concerning picture for Democrats hoping to make major gains in upcoming midterms by banking around the wide popularity of student debt forgiveness. While voting behavior is dependent upon a myriad of reasons, this newest survey offers little evidence of a strong cohort of single-issue voters for student debt relief.
While Democrats may have hoped that spending nearly half a trillion dollars on education loan debt forgiveness is needed score voters in November's midterms, recent polling data from Data for Progress shed some doubt with that notion. Making matters worse, an obscenely expensive loan forgiveness plan stands to exacerbate the economical problems that appear to dominate young voters' concerns-most notably by reversing the results of the Inflation Reduction Act, and then some.
How this dynamic will, or won't, play out in November remains to be seen. However, if things do go poorly for Democrats, it might prove a staggeringly expensive lesson on the hazards of focusing too intently around the wrong political issue.
