Opinion | The U.S. Economy, the Southern Border, Oct. 7: How 13 Biden and Trump Voters Saw…

Something strange happened during our recent Times Opinion focus group, the 18th and final one of 2023. When we asked the participants (13 Democrats, Republicans and independents) how they felt about the economy, we didn’t hear the same chorus of complaints that our other groups pretty consistently intoned all year. Our participants were by no means cheery, but several were upbeat, and even the Trump voters in the group weren’t aggrieved about the economy — so much so that our focus group moderator, Frank Luntz, looked a little surprised and said, “OK, this is not that bad. In fact, this is reasonably good.”

Our intent with this focus group was to bring together people who voted for Joe Biden or Donald Trump in 2020 and explore areas where they agreed or disagreed about the year we just went through. The usual partisan divisions fell away in a few places: In addition to seeing some upsides on the economy, several of the Biden and Trump voters expressed concern about ongoing aid to Ukraine, worry about the U.S. border with Mexico and a desire for Mr. Biden not to run for re-election. The group was more divided over Israel and Gaza and over the prosecutions of Mr. Trump.

We asked what the participants would say to Mr. Biden if he had been listening to the group. Angela, a 56-year-old Black woman from Califonia who supported him in 2020, said, “Thank you for your many years of service in politics. Go home. Enjoy your wife. Enjoy your life.” Sean, a 39-year-old white man from Georgia who voted for Mr. Biden last time, said, “You got to let somebody else step in. He’s not going to have a good run at this point.”

When we asked what they would say to Mr. Trump, Betsy, a 42-year-old white woman from Colorado who backed him in 2020, said, “Please bow out. You’re the best get-out-the-vote machine for the Democratic Party.” At the same time, there were more Trump and Biden voters who said at this point that they thought Mr. Trump would win in November than participants who said they thought Mr. Biden would win.

And asked what they thought the country would look like and be like in 2030, there was a mix of optimism and pessimism, but the reactions did not break down strictly along partisan lines. The biggest worry of all was not about the country’s politics but about the health of our culture and the values of younger Americans.