There’s no greater sense of panic or perhaps lack of faith in Biden’s leadership than the numbers from this new CNBC poll rating the President on his handling of the economy.
The results are grim, even by most poll standards, with Biden sinking well below anything hit by former Presidents Obama or Trump.
The real headline should be how Americans are “feeling crushed,” as CNBC puts it, under Biden’s inflation as prices just don’t stop heading skyward and there doesn’t seem to be anything the White House can do about it other than to complain and pass the buck:
President Joe Biden’s overall and economic approval numbers have reached the lowest levels of his presidency and fallen further than that of either of his two predecessors, according to the latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey.
With Americans feeling crushed beneath the weight of rising prices, Biden’s economic approval dropped 5 points from the prior survey in April to just 30%. The president’s economic record is supported by just 6% of Republicans, 25% of independents and 58% of Democrats, a very low number for his own party.
In comparison, President Donald Trump’s economic approval bottomed out at 41%, and President Barack Obama’s at 37%.
Notice how Democrats have stopped running against Donald Trump on the economy. That line of attack might remind voters just how well America was doing under Trump’s leadership before the pandemic hit in March of 2020.
In fact, in the days before Covid, the fear among Democrats was that no matter who they nominated in 2020, Trump was on track for a relatively easy re-election win due to the economy alone. Voters didn’t like mean tweets, but they did enjoy their 401k statements and cheap gasoline with stable prices across the board.
For whatever Biden is doing, Americans don’t feel anything is helping and might actually be making the situation worse:
The poll of 800 people across the nation found that 51% believe the president’s efforts to combat inflation are making no difference, and 30% think they are actually hurting. Just 12% say they are helping.
That’s the problem with over-promising and under-delivering. When the promises don’t come true, people start to wonder whether your actions are more harmful than helpful. The truth in between is that curbing inflation is extremely difficult which is why monetary policy is so focused on overall stability and typically works to avoid situations that could destabilize prices and labor.
Democrats ignored the warning signs when Biden took office and passed another massive spending bill which helped ignite the situation we’re in now.
If this level of malaise and pessimism doesn’t spell doom for Democrats in November, then what does?
That’s 52% who believe the economy will get worse from where it is now, a record high. In other words, they’ve seen what Biden has done and are still under the impression that things will get worse before they get better.
The overall financial health of American households is taking a beating from higher credit card use for essential items and cutting back on spending due to excessively high prices:
Some 65% of those polled say they are cutting back on entertainment, such as eating out or going to movies and concerts. Among participants, 61% report driving less and 54% say they are reducing travel. More than 4 out of 10 are spending less on groceries. A third are using credit cards more often, which could mean higher interest payments if they don’t pay off balances. The survey found 47% of the participants say they are taking at least four of these measures.
The question will be whether the issue of abortion can stem the coming tide of losses in November for Democrats. So far, the economy is still winning out as the most pressing issue on several fronts:
Respondents who say immigration and border security, jobs, and, most importantly, the cost of living are their top concerns have a decided preference for Republican congressional control. For example, those most worried about jobs, prefer GOP control by a 54% to 31% margin. Those most concerned about the cost of living, prefer GOP congressional control by 47% to 38%. However, abortion ranks as the second-biggest concern, and those respondents prefer Democratic control of congress 67% to 24%.
Voters concerned primarily about abortion access were never voting Republican. The flip side though is that pro-life activists will also be energized to vote in droves come November to help protect the victory handed down by the Supreme Court in the Dobbs case.
If the economy was even slightly less bad than it is, and inflation was going down rather than up, Democrats might break even or come out ahead thanks to abortion. However, Americans have lost all confidence in Biden’s presidency and Congressional Democrats are set to pay the price.
