These swing voters have low expectations for divided government

Key voters in North Carolina are pessimistic the blue wave flipping control of Congress next year will solve their economic woes.NPR observed two online focus groups on Tuesday night with 14 voters in North Carolina who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and then President Trump in 2024.Twelve said they have pretty low expectations for what Democrats can achieve with Trump still in the White House."I think realistically, it just means nothing's going to happen for the next two years," said 32-year-old self-described independent voter Steven, who, like all participants, took part under the condition his last name would not be used."President Trump would veto anything that comes to his desk, and the House and Senate majorities are not veto proof either, so literally nothing will happen for the next two years," he added.In these groups — part of the Swing Voter Project, held by messaging firm Engagious and market research recruiting firm Nelson Recruiting — 10 people identified as independents, three as Republicans and one as a Democrat.Almost all these voters said they disapprove overall of the job Trump is doing.

Many said they felt Democrats' big wins across the country were a sign that voters "want change."Yet the participants were largely pessimistic that Congress would be able to effect change, once Democrats have control of both the House and Senate come January.Rich Thau, president of Engagious, moderated these groups.He said these voters chiefly expect that Trump will be a major obstacle and won't give Democrats the ability to get anything done."And the Democrats themselves," Thau added to NPR, "[the voters] think that they're going to be sort of all over the place, that they're going to maybe focus too much on investigations.

… But in terms of actually helping them do the one thing that they desperately want, which is to bring their prices down and make their lives more affordable, they are definitely dubious."Focus groups are not scientifically significant ...