What undecided voters want to hear: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, we chat with voters who remain undecided about key elections in their states in the final stretch of the campaign. Plus, Jonathan Allen digs into a striking admission from President Donald Trump.

— Adam Wollner

How undecided voters are weighing their 2026 election options

By Bridget Bowman, Sarah Sternhagen and Hallie Jackson

James Morton isn’t sure which party he’s going to support in November’s elections, and he doesn’t like his options.

Morton, a 67-year-old retired truck driver in Colorado, said Democrats have “gone too far to the left towards socialism,” while Republicans are “globalists” who “don’t care about the working-class people in this country.”

Morton, an independent who voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, is leaning toward backing third-party candidates in races for the House and the Senate this year. But he said his decision will come down to the high cost of living.

“The No. 1 thing is getting the cost of things back down, inflation under control, and pretty much that’s it,” Morton said. He noted that he and his wife have been buying different groceries as they navigate high prices.

Morton is among the 5% of voters surveyed last month in a national NBC News poll who said they weren’t sure which party they wanted to see controlling Congress after this year’s elections. NBC News spoke with 16 of those undecided voters as they weigh their votes this fall.

These voters feel little loyalty to either party — and many of them said that’s in part because they aren’t sure either party understands what’s important to them. Almost every one said high costs are top of mind.

In the NBC News poll, 50% of voters said they wanted Democrats to win control of Congress in the midterms, while 45% said they wanted Republicans to have control. How the undecided voters in between resolve their strong, sometimes conflicting feelings could ultimately decide what Congress looks like in 2027, from who controls the majority to how many seats that party holds.

Voters’ focus on making ends meet has been standing out in recent polling. In the latest NBC News survey, voters ranked cost of living and inflation as the most important issues facing the country, followed by government corruption and threats to democracy.

“I don’t like how expensive things are, and I don’t think anyone does,” said Aidan Valenzuela, a 19-year-old security worker in Texas who said he hasn’t decided whom to support in his state’s hotly contested races for governor and the Senate.

Read more →

Trump’s economic disconnect

Analysis by Jonathan Allen

President Donald Trump said yesterday that he’s done “a very bad job” of explaining to the American people why he thinks the economy is doing well.

For Subscribers

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSIt’s rarely been harder for people to find new jobs

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

At one level, it was a rare acknowledgment from Trump — who has ranked himself as the greatest president in American history — that he has failed at anything.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJudge guts noncitizen voting law used in Trump administration’s election push

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhite House plans travel for Trump in at least 17 states ahead of the midterms

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe prosecutor at the center of the Cornell maelstrom

FOR SUBSCRIBERSIt’s rarely been harder for people to find new jobs

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

But there’s a disconnect between Trump’s view of the economy, which he and his advisers have been talking up since he reclaimed the Oval Office last year, and the sentiments of most Americans.

Interviews with voters across the country and public opinion surveys show that Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy broadly. Specifically, they are unhappy with his inability to curb inflation. Trump’s tariff agenda and the Iran war have put upward pressure on prices for everything from gas to groceries.

The disconnect threatens to further erode Trump’s credibility with voters who feel the squeeze of rising prices and interest rates but hear him describing the economy as strong.

With the midterms little more than a month away, it would be political malpractice for the president to tell voters that he’s failed on substance, even if he believed that. His challenge is to tell voters both that he hears what they’re saying about the economy and that it is better than they think it is — without blaming them.

For a while, Trump pointed his finger at White House aides, arguing that they weren’t doing a good enough job of selling his record. But his press secretary left, and there is no imminent plan to replace her.

Trump is, as he has always been, his own chief message-maker. It will be up to voters to decide whether the failure is in his delivery or in his policy.

That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.

If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com

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