A Democratic-aligned think tank is urging the party to focus on cost-of-living messaging rather than promises of investigations or impeachment of President Donald Trump ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Third Way released a memo on May 11 citing new survey data showing voters by wide margins say that Democrats should prioritize bringing down costs over potential investigations of the Trump administration or pursuing impeachment should they retake control of Congress in the November elections.
The think tank’s April survey of 2,000 registered voters, conducted with polling firm GBAO, posed a forced choice between the two priorities. Voters overall chose cost-focus by 67 percent to 27 percent.
Independents backed cost-focus 65 percent to 26 percent. Democrats themselves were nearly evenly split. The memo said 49 percent of Democratic voters said the party should prioritize investigating the Trump administration, while 47 percent said the party should prioritize bringing down costs.
“This is a clear indication that the Democratic base is looking for elected leaders to stand up to and fight Trump, but in service of helping bring prices down,” memo author David de la Fuente wrote. “If they claim a gavel this fall, voters will reward Democrats for using it to focus on ending tariffs and gasoline hikes from wars, not impeachment battles.”
The memo identified a separate tension between Democratic voters and the broader electorate on whether to confront or work with Trump.
A 50 percent to 45 percent majority of all voters said Democrats should work with Trump where possible to lower costs, while Democratic voters said, by an 80 percent to 18 percent margin, that the party should stand up to Trump. Independents narrowly preferred that Democrats work with Trump on costs, 47 percent to 45 percent.
The survey also found that the war in Iran was a top voter concern tied to economic strain, such as rising gas prices. Democrats narrowly led Republicans on voter trust to handle the Iran war, 39 percent to 34 percent.
“Democrats, for their part, should stay focused on lowering costs and restoring health care funding,” the memo noted, adding, “There is a debate to be won and ground to be gained” if Democrats can make a convincing case that they “will focus on what voters truly care about.”
The memo said the survey found Democrats now lead Republicans on voter trust for cost of living (40 percent to 31 percent), gas prices (39 percent to 30 percent), tariffs (43 percent to 35 percent), inflation (39 percent to 32 percent), energy costs (38 percent to 32 percent), and the economy (39 percent to 36 percent).
Republicans retained advantages on border security (51 percent to 27 percent), national security (49 percent to 31 percent), immigration (47 percent to 36 percent), making government more efficient (37 percent to 30 percent), the national debt (33 percent to 28 percent), and taxes (38 percent to 34 percent).
The survey is the fourth installment of Third Way’s “Signal” tracker series, which the group launched to gauge issue salience during the second Trump administration. Third Way describes itself as a center-left think tank.