A new poll revealed that most Americans are interested in a presidential race that in turn makes them anxious or frustrated.
Most Americans are feeling a lot of emotions heading into the upcoming Election Day in November, but excitement is not one of them, according to polls.
A new poll from the AP-NORC Public Affairs Research Center found that about 7 in 10 Americans say they feel anxious or frustrated about the 2024 presidential campaign. A similar share say they are interested.
Only about a third say they feel excited, according to the data collected.
There is a broad sense of uncertainty hanging over the 2024 presidential race during the final week of the campaign. The race is highly competitive nationally and in key states, according to recent polls. Neither Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris nor former Republican President Donald Trump show a measurable advantage over the other.
At the same time, the candidates' final arguments couldn't be more different: Harris argued that Trump is obsessed with revenge and his own personal needs, while Trump referred to Harris at a rally Sunday night as “a mess.” that has destroyed everything in its path.”
Some groups are even more anxious than they were four years ago, even though that election was held in the midst of a deadly pandemic. In 2020, an AP-NORC poll found that about two-thirds of Americans were anxious about the election, which is not statistically significant from the new result. But for party members the anxiety is a little higher.
About 8 in 10 Democrats say anxiety describes how they feel now, a slight increase from three-quarters in the last election. About two-thirds of Republicans are anxious, a moderate increase from 6 in 10 in 2020.
Independents, on the other hand, have not changed significantly and also feel less worried than Democrats or Republicans. About half say they are anxious, similar to the 2020 finding.
Other emotions have become more intense compared to previous election cycles, including excitement. About a third of Americans say they are excited about the 2024 campaign, up from about a quarter in 2016. But most Americans say they are not excited about this year's race.
One thing, however, has remained fairly constant: Americans' level of frustration with the campaign. About 7 in 10 Americans say frustration describes their emotional state, similar to what happened in 2020.
For those Americans, however, there is a light on the horizon: soon, the election will be over.