Seventy-two percent of voters want Washington to focus on lowering prices. Sixty-nine percent want affordable healthcare. Just 20 percent consider tariffs a top priority. The gap between what voters are asking for and what Washington is doing has rarely been wider.
72% – Voters who want Trump to focus on lowering prices for goods and services — the top voter priority since the start of his term (Morning Consult, Mar. 13–16, 2026)
20% – Voters who consider tariff imposition a top priority — the lowest-ranked of all tracked policy areas (Morning Consult, Mar. 13–16, 2026)
2-to-1 – Margin by which Democratic voters say future party leaders should prioritize effective governing over fighting Trump (Manhattan Institute / Washington Post, Mar. 9, 2026)
According to Morning Consult’s tracking survey of 2,201 registered US voters conducted March 13–16, 2026, the three issues voters most want Washington to address have remained unchanged since the start of the current term: lowering prices for goods and services (72 percent), making healthcare more affordable (69 percent), and making energy cheaper (60 percent). These are the same top three that led voters’ priority lists in January, February, and every month since. What has changed is the degree to which Washington’s actual policy agenda diverges from that list. The administration’s most prominent actions — tariff escalation, immigration enforcement, and federal agency restructuring — rank near the bottom of voter priorities, with just 20 percent citing tariffs as a top concern.
The Economy Dominates — But Not in the Way Washington Is Addressing It
The disconnect is sharpest on the economy. Morning Consult finds that the economy draws the most negative buzz of any tracked issue — voters are 32 points more likely to have heard something negative about it than positive. Fifty percent of voters disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy, and 50 percent disapprove of his handling of healthcare and the national debt — his worst ratings across 12 tracked policy areas. The issues where he receives his strongest approval are immigration (48 percent) and national security (47 percent) — but those are not the issues voters ranked as their top concerns. A Reuters/Ipsos poll from December 2025 found that cost of living remains the defining issue for the 2026 congressional elections, with healthcare, housing, and food costs the three specific areas Americans most want Congress to address.
What Democratic Voters Want Their Party to Be
The gap between voter priorities and party behavior is not confined to Republicans. A Manhattan Institute survey published in the Washington Post on March 9, 2026 found that 38 percent of Democratic voters want their party to move toward the ideological center — the largest single preference — compared to just 22 percent who want a shift to the left. By a greater than 2-to-1 margin, Democratic voters said future party leaders should prioritize effective governing over fighting Trump and Republicans. The survey’s findings on specific issues are striking: only 1 in 10 Democratic voters supports open borders; fewer than a quarter want to increase legal immigration levels; majorities support skills-based admissions and prioritizing deportation of criminal offenders. On public safety, Democratic voters strongly support aggressive prosecution of gun crimes and view police as essential to public order.
Where Voters Across Party Lines Actually Agree
| Issue | Voter Priority Level | Cross-Party Agreement |
|---|---|---|
| Lowering prices / cost of living | 72% cite as top priority | High — leads across party registration; cost of living #1 for 2026 midterm voters (Reuters/Ipsos) |
| Affordable healthcare | 69% cite as top priority | High — Democratic voters trust Dems more; split on approach, not on importance |
| Energy costs | 60% cite as top priority | Moderate — agreement on goal, sharp disagreement on method (fossil fuels vs. renewables) |
| Immigration enforcement | High salience, 70% heard about it recently | Divided — most want secure borders and a legal path for long-term residents simultaneously (Ipsos, Feb. 2026) |
| National debt | 50% disapprove of current handling | Moderate — voters tied on which party to trust; both trail public expectations |
| Tariff policy | Just 20% cite as top priority | Low cross-party support — the single lowest-ranked tracked priority |
The Fragmented Landscape Heading Into the Midterms
Reuters/Ipsos polling from February 2026 found that Americans do not view any single issue as the defining problem facing the country — the data shows a fragmented landscape in which cost of living, immigration, healthcare, and political dysfunction all rank highly simultaneously. This fragmentation complicates both parties’ midterm strategies. Democrats have a 14-point generic ballot advantage over Republicans in recent Washington Post polling — their largest in decades — but have made little headway in persuading Americans that they have better ideas or policies to offer. Republicans maintain strength on immigration and national security, but their policy agenda on prices, healthcare, and the debt is underwater with the electorate that will decide competitive House and Senate races in November.
The Clearest Signals From Voters, Spring 2026
- Prices over everything:cost of living has led voter priorities every single month of the current term — it is not a temporary concern driven by a single event
- Healthcare is not resolved:69% cite affordable healthcare as a top priority at a moment when Medicaid cuts and insurance premium increases are both moving in the wrong direction for most voters
- Voters want moderation from both parties:the Manhattan Institute data shows Democratic voters want centrist governance; Morning Consult shows the broader electorate ranking partisan conflict-oriented actions at the bottom of its priority list
- Tariffs are a policy without a constituency:only 20% of voters cite tariff imposition as a top priority — even as the policy dominates headlines and has measurable cost-of-living effects that 72% of voters want addressed
Key Figures
72% – Voters who want Washington to focus on lowering prices — unchanged top priority since January 2025 (Morning Consult, Mar. 2026)
69% – Voters citing affordable healthcare as a top priority (Morning Consult, Mar. 13–16, 2026)
20% – Voters who consider tariff imposition a top priority — the lowest-ranked of all tracked issues
38% – Democratic voters who want their party to move toward the center — largest single preference (Manhattan Institute, Mar. 2026)
+14 – Democratic generic ballot advantage over Republicans — largest in decades (Washington Post polling, Mar. 2026)
Related Coverage
- The Rise of Independent Voters in 2026
- Why Bipartisan Legislation Has Become So Rare
- Why Grocery Prices Are Still Climbing in 2026
- How Rising Insurance Premiums Are Threatening Small Business
Key Dates
- Dec. 2025Reuters/Ipsos: cost of living #1 issue for 2026 midterm voters
- Feb. 2026Ipsos: fragmented issue landscape; no single defining problem
- Mar. 9, 2026Manhattan Institute/WaPo: Dem voters want centrist governing 2-to-1
- Mar. 13–16, 2026Morning Consult: prices, healthcare, energy remain top 3; tariffs last
- Nov. 4, 2026Midterm elections — first national