While the Trump indictment distraction dominated headlines this week, the real political news remains tucked away under the fold and off the front page.
With President Biden allegedly gearing up to eventually, maybe announce his re-election campaign, it’s worth asking why he hasn’t done so already. After all, it’s been a good week for Biden. His biggest political rival was indicted in phony politically-motivated charges and his bad policies are avoiding scrutiny because of it.
On the other hand, Biden doesn’t have much to go on with just one-third of respondents in a recent CNN poll saying he deserves a second term in the White House:
The March poll suggests that just before the indictment, the uptick in views of Biden that had seemed to have been sparked by Democrats outperforming expectations in the 2022 midterms had stalled. The poll finds Biden’s approval rating at 42% overall, with 57% disapproving. In January, 45% approved and 55% disapproved. That shift falls within the poll’s margin of error and is not statistically significant.
On major issues, Biden’s numbers are also stagnant. His approval ratings for handling immigration (35% approve), the economy (37%) and gun policy (37%) all fall significantly below his overall approval rating. On national security (44% approve) and the US relationship with China (40% approve), his numbers are about the same as his overall approval rating. The only issue on which Biden significantly outperforms his overall standing is environmental policy, and even there, most disapprove (46% approve, 52% disapprove).
The poll also finds negative views of Biden persist across several personal attributes, with majorities saying he does not have the stamina and sharpness to serve effectively as president (67%), does not inspire confidence (65%), is not honest and trustworthy (54%) and does not care about people like them (54%). Americans are more evenly split over whether Biden can work effectively with Congress – 48% say he can, 51% that he cannot.
All told, just 32% say that Biden deserves reelection to the presidency, down 5 points since December.
That’s a lot to digest but the angle is one of decline. It’s another example of riding the “down escalator” in politics heading in the wrong direction.
Whatever momentum remained after the midterms dissipated for Biden in the face of ongoing challenges and turmoil both domestically and abroad. Biden is underwater on every major issue including immigration, the economy, and gun policy, each hitting disapproval numbers that include members of his own party.
Another point worth examining is that a whopping two-thirds of respondents said Joe Biden is not honest and trustworthy and does not inspire confidence. Ouch! That’s a hit for a guy who built his political career on being the straight shooter from Scranton who could look you in the eye while he inappropriately fondled your daughter’s hair.
The facade that Biden has built is gone. He’s been revealed as another swamp creature living in the filth for decades, unable to separate himself from it.
As for the re-election question, only receiving a nod of approval from 32% of poll respondents indicates that even Democrats are tired of Biden and would like to see him defer a campaign in 2024. That doesn’t mean he will, of course.
Perhaps the one bright spot for Biden is that even though Democrats want to replace him on the ticket, they don’t have a particular name in mind:
As in other recent CNN polling, few who say they’d like to see someone else head the Democratic ticket have a specific replacement candidate in mind. About 7 in 10 in that group say they just generally want to see someone other than Biden, and no individual candidate is named by more than 5% of those looking for an alternate nominee.
Sorry, Kamala, few are yearning for the bright future days of the Harris administration.
