“I don’t think a lot of people have a lot of faith in Biden, like they were expecting at first,” said Hall, a 42-year-old nursing assistant. “I think it’s more of a bigger division than it was before. I thought it was gonna get better once the vaccines came out because there was so many people complaining about covid and wanting a cure, but then they came out with a vaccine nobody wants to take. Nothing has changed and we’re just stuck in the same place.”…

Tia Scott, of Norfolk, said her family has been pinched by rising prices everywhere, even as it gets harder to find a job that makes ends meet.

“The cost of living has been high, the cost of food is going up, and gas prices too, and jobs are still laying off people, saying it’s about covid,” said Scott, a 35-year-old customer service representative and mother of three girls. “I voted for Biden. Really, I was going to vote for anybody but Trump. But it seems like it was all talk. Now I see all the ads were just ads. Just because you say you can do all that stuff on an ad doesn’t mean you can do it.”

Particularly troubling, some said, is that nearly a year after a coronavirus vaccine was approved, mitigation efforts and covid restrictions remain a part of everyday life, the economy doesn’t seem to be working for the most vulnerable, and intraparty infighting has stalled progress promised by Biden and the Democrats.