A new NBC News poll conducted in the wake of the leaked Supreme Court draft found support for abortion rights reaching its highest point since 2003, with 60% of Americans saying abortion should either always be legal (37%) or legal most of the time (23%). Meanwhile, 37% said abortion should be illegal in most cases or without exception.
Similarly, 63% of respondents support maintaining the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, while just 30% wanted to see it overturned.
The poll also found Democratic enthusiasm ticking up. The mismatch between enthusiasm among voters on the right and left has become a focus of concern for Democrats. In the poll, the number of Democrats expressing a high level of interest in the midterms (a 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale) jumped 11 points since March to 61%.
Republicans' level of interest got a modest 2-point bump to 69% in the same period of time.
“How [abortion] plays out in November is to be determined. But for now, it is injecting some much-needed enthusiasm into parts of the Democratic coalition,” said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates.
News from the survey wasn't all good. President Joe Biden's approval rating registered at just 39% and, for the fourth straight time in the poll, people saying the country is on the wrong track topped 70%.
That level of discontent harkens back to other low points in recent history. "The other times were in 2008 (during the Great Recession) and 2013 (during a government shutdown)," writes NBC.
GOP pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, who conducted this survey with Horwitt, called the number a "flashing red light."
Still, the generic ballot was dead even, with 46% of Americans saying Democrats should control Congress while another 46% said Republicans should. Republicans held a slight 2-point edge on the question in March, a change within the poll's margin of error.
But given the "wrong track" numbers, Horwitt said, “It is remarkable that preference for control of Congress is even overall, and that the gap in interest in the election has narrowed."
Overall, the NBC survey isn’t exactly cause for celebration, but it does suggest a continued shift in the political landscape we have been seeing in other polls.
