No polling headline quite encapsulates Biden’s predicament like the recent findings from Quinnipiac that once again peg the economy and inflation as top concerns among voters heading into November.
A solid 97%, which is basically every respondent, says rising prices are a “crisis” or a “problem,” a number that rose from April when 96% felt the same way. It took another month of skyrocketing inflation to wake up one more percentage point of poll respondents to Biden’s economic failures.
Beyond Biden’s approval, which sits tied at the Quinnipiac low of 33%, it’s all the issues hitting voters in the wallet that matter:
More than 6 in 10 Americans (63 percent) say the price of gas and consumer goods is the economic issue that worries them most right now, while 17 percent say the cost of housing or rent, 11 percent say the stock market, and 3 percent say their job situation.
More than two-thirds of Americans (68 percent) say the price of gasoline has either been a very serious (30 percent) or somewhat serious (38 percent) problem for them and their family lately, while 32 percent say it’s not too serious (22 percent) or not a problem at all (10 percent).
Americans 55 – 44 percent say that as a result of the recent rise in gas prices, they have cut back significantly on their household spending.
That’s a majority of Americans now saying they’re cutting back in other ways to work around affording the current gas prices. Not a great place for a President and his party to be just a handful of months from the midterm elections in November.
Somehow, Biden’s Covid-19 response is the only issue that still hits 50%. The rest is all underwater, especially on economic topics:
Americans were asked about Biden’s handling of …
– the response to the coronavirus: 50 percent approve, while 44 percent disapprove;
– the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: 40 percent approve, while 51 percent disapprove;
– the economy: 32 percent approve, while 62 percent disapprove;
– gun violence: 31 percent approve, while 57 percent disapprove.
Biden committed resources to Ukraine and sent them tens of billions of dollars in aid. Now the situation is a quagmire with neither side making meaningful advancement.
Perhaps the most meaningful polling shift, however, continues to happen on the younger end of the voting spectrum. Getting crushed by inflation and rising costs they increasingly cannot afford, younger voters are turning away from Biden:
Quinnipiac poll says Biden has just 25% approval among voters age 18-34 — the lowest of any age group. If true, would suggest a drastic transformation in the political allegiances of younger voters, who have long been the most reliably pro-Dem age group by far pic.twitter.com/8DlAHeGXvs
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) June 23, 2022
This is a shift we noted recently, Biden’s drowning with the 18-34 crowd on the economy. It’s no surprise really since at every opportunity the president extols the virtue of this “incredible transition” on gasoline we’re going through and tells everyone to buck up and just keep paying, someday it’ll get better.
Biden’s polling is a disaster to the point where it barely makes headlines anymore. It would be a headline if his poll numbers went up five points but that certainly hasn’t been the case.
