President Joe Biden’s approval ratings are currently in the tank. According to the FiveThirtyEight poll tracker, 49.6% disapproved of the president’s job performance, While 44.5% approved. At this point in his presidency, Joe performs better than former president Donald Trump (37.6% approval) but quite a bit worse than Barack Obama (53% approval). Apparently, there are currently two key factors that seem to be driving the dissatisfaction: the endless pandemic and the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal. What does Biden need to do in order to improve his popularity?
Pennsylvania Democrats, in a focus group last week, one after another, articulated the issue annoying top White House aides, voters in Georgia, and party operatives in Virginia: “Why isn’t President Joe Biden’s diminished job rating rebounding?”
According to Politico, all nine participants gave Biden C- grades or lower during Tuesday’s session. Moreover, their answers were based on the same point of view: The pandemic and the various ways it keeps hindering everday life is souring their views of Biden.
At the focus gathering, one woman said she wanted to purchase a vehicle; however, new shipments to the dealership were delayed by supply chain issues. A man also complained about restaurants having too few staff members.
Biden’s job approval currently sits ten points lower compared to that of his former boss, Barack Obama, at the same point in his presidency in 2009. According to RealClearPolitics (RCP) average approval ratings, Obama’s approval rating sat at 53 percent on Oct. 11 during his first year in office with a disapproval rating of 40 percent.
Biden had worked as Obama’s vice president during all of Obama’s eight years as president.
During his early months in office, President Biden was quite popular. However, his approval rating began to sink in July. In late August, the president’s disapproval ratings overtook his approval ratings for the first time, and he hasn’t recovered since then.
Biden’s approval ratings fell among most demographic groups between July and September, according to a Pew Research Center survey released last month. Some of the most significant declines were among Black Americans (-18%), Hispanic (-16%), have a high school degree or less (-15%), Asian (-14%), or between 18 and 29 years old (-14%), Deseret News reported.
Biden emerged winner in the 2020 election in large part because he was able to win the center. Joe Biden emerged with a 13-point win with independent voters, which Hillary Clinton lost by 4 points in 2016, CNN reported. For this reason, Biden shouldn’t be surprised that the recent drop in his approval rating has come disproportionately from independents, as the Washington Post’s Henry Olsen first pointed out.
For Biden’s approval to recover, democratic pollsters suggest he needs Congress to pass his agenda, according to NBC News.
So far, Joe Biden’s job disapproval has yet to give Republicans a significant 2022 midterm edge. Recent history is certainly on the side of Republicans.
