Things are heading in the wrong direction, or perhaps the same direction they’ve been heading, for the Biden administration’s attempt to remove blame from itself over rising inflation and the faltering economy. According to new polling data, voters see the President’s policies as having a negative impact on the economy and inflation overall. In other words, despite Biden economic advisors calling inflation “transitory” in nature, voters seem more concerned and place the blame squarely at the feet of the Commander-in-chief.
Whether it’s Covid or the economy, the Biden-Harris administration remains underwater. A wider wave of infections fueled by omicron panic this winter isn’t going to move these numbers much except to make them worse:
All told, three-quarters say they are worried about the state of the economy in their own community (75%) and 63% say the nation’s economy is in poor shape. Nearly 6 in 10 (57%) say that the economic news they’ve heard lately has been mostly bad, with just 19% saying they are hearing mostly good news about the economy right now.
Asked to rate the severity of seven issues affecting the economy recently, about 8 in 10 say the rising cost of food and other everyday items (80%), the disruption in the nation’s supply chain (79%), and the rising cost of housing (77%) are major problems for the nation’s economy.
Few see President Joe Biden’s policies as having a positive impact on economic conditions (30%), while nearly half (45%) say his policies have worsened the economy, and a quarter say they’ve had no impact. And 54% disapprove of the way he’s handling the economy generally, up five points since late summer, with a matching 54% now disapproving of how he’s handling helping the middle class.
That’s a majority of respondents now firmly of the belief that this administration has done nothing to improve the economic conditions, it has only made them worse. Another notable point from this poll is how former President Obama, with worse economic numbers, actually did better on the same questions because voters had more faith in him than they do President Biden:
At roughly the same point in Barack Obama’s presidency in 2009, when the unemployment rate was more than double its current level but inflation was less of an issue, reviews of his impact on the economy were more positive, with 36% saying his work had improved economic conditions and 28% saying they had worsened them.
Obama had better polls with worse economic numbers because he had an ability to connect with voters who wanted to believe in him, coupled with adoring media, and the ability to form complete sentences. Biden has the adoring media, but he’s a terrible leader from a presidential standpoint and has trouble forming thoughts or using words.
There simply is no issue right now where Biden is above water. That fact shows in the way he’s attempting to approach the omicron variant spread with fewer federal government restrictions or mandates. Voters have grown tired of being kicked around by their leaders, they’re fully aware of the risks of everyday life with Covid in the background.
Fully two-thirds of voters have serious doubts concerning Biden’s overall leadership of the country:
The new poll finds roughly two-thirds (66%) have doubts and reservations about Biden’s leadership, including 92% of Republicans, 75% of independents and 36% of Democrats.
That point alone is why I have argued previously that it’s not a messaging problem holding Democrats back, it’s a leadership problem. Voters don’t trust the President to put out the fires around him, and the results are telling.
Despite what the President says about the midterms, something like “Get ready Pal, you’re gonna in for a problem,” the Democratic Party is set for historic losses due to incompetence and mismanagement of the country.
https://twitter.com/FlipItRed2022/status/1470944699535933443
That’s… something right there.
It looks like Democrats, with Joe Biden steering the ship, are already “in for a problem” with voters.
