4 Minutes 
The Persuadables Project is an ongoing collaboration between Sago, Engagious, and the Washington Post that conducts bi-monthly online focus groups with Americans who live in key states. Respondents are all Republicans or Republican-voting Independents.
Context for This Month’s Panel
Our group this month comprised 15 persuadable voters from four key states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Arizona. In May 2023, with a recession still possibly on the table, nearly everyone on our panel expressed strong concerns about the state of the economy.
But with unemployment near an all-time low of 3.4 percent, stocks near their high for the year, and an inflation rate that has receded to around 5 percent from much higher levels, what would explain the disconnect between these numbers and how these constituents actually feel?
On the State of the Economy
When asked to rate the current state of the U.S. economy, here’s how our swing voters weighed in:
- Eight out of the 15 believe the economy is in poor condition.
- Six of the 15 believe it’s in fair condition.
- Only one respondent thinks it’s in good shape.
- No one believes the current economy is in excellent condition.
Here’s what several of the respondents had to say on the matter:
“I think we have a lot of garbage loans. I think we’re going to see another repeat of 2008. We’ve already had a couple of bank failures and there’s a lot of garbage out there. It’s sad. It’s predatory.”
“Prices have gone up a lot. Energy costs in Wisconsin—we just went up, I think, 20 percent.”
“There are homeless camps all along downtown Phoenix. And that cannot be good. I’ve never seen that before.”
On Abortion
Changing topics to another hot ongoing debate in the United States: the growing movement against the right to abort.
None of the 15 respondents are in favor of an abortion law—like the one Governor DeSantis signed in Florida—that would ban the procedure after the first six weeks, and with limited exceptions up to 15 weeks (e.g. if there is evidence of a crime).
One respondent’s explanation of her disapproval: “Sometimes women don’t even know they’re pregnant during the first six weeks.”
On Next Year’s Election
When asked, “Who among you wishes neither Trump nor Biden was running in 2024 and that both parties would seek a different nominee?” every participant in the group raised their finger.
Some of their thoughts included:
“I think we need more choices from both parties. Fresh faces. Fresh ideas. Youthfulness.”
“One just made this country a mess, and the other one can’t get his act together.”
“They should both retire. And what I’d like to see is a couple of candidates with no gray hair.”
When asked, “How do you feel about the fact that the two likely options next year will be Trump and Biden?” these are the sentiments that were expressed:
- Ashamed that in this country, that is the best that we can do.
- Worried that there’s not anybody else that has tried to step up; and I’m worried about what the future will hold with either of these two potentially in office.
- Disappointed and frustrated were two more words submitted by the group.
- Everyone agreed they felt worried and concerned.
So then, what personal characteristics do these voters want to see in their next president?
- Honesty: Stick with what you say.
- Serious: Their words are backed up with action. No jargon. No talking points.
- Integrity: Someone we can trust and believe in.
- Transparency: Someone who is a little more forthcoming.
- Strong-willed: In their conviction.
- Grounded, resourceful, transformative, accountability: A true servant leader.
- Humility: Not a narcissist.
If there were a hypothetical election tomorrow between Trump and Biden, the swing voters would vote in the following ways:
- Nine would take Biden.
- Three would take Trump.
- One would take some third-party candidate.
- Two would not vote at all.
Watch the full video to see what choice words our respondents had to describe how they would feel if either candidate were to serve as our next president. You’ll also find how this group of swing voters felt about other important subjects like election denialism, the primary elections, news sources, and why our swing voters voted the way they did in 2020
