CBS News' pollster is out with a new national poll depicting how the country's mood remains strikingly sour. The White House has been talking up the economy on a daily basis, often citing a strong labor market, and possibly stronger than expected growth. But despite Karine Jean-Pierre's prominent soundbyte from last week – which may well end up in a slew of GOP campaign ads, depending on economic conditions and perceptions a year from now – if Americans are indeed "starting to feel Bidenomics," that isn't redounding to the administration's benefit.
Shot:
NOW - White House: "The American people are beginning to feel Bidenomics." pic.twitter.com/2wlkjPR9yK
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 25, 2023
Chaser:
BIDENOMICS: pic.twitter.com/mRNPQRCpFc
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 30, 2023
More from the CBS survey:
CBS POLL: President Biden's approval rating hits an all-time low
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) July 30, 2023
Approve 40%
Disapprove 60%
The Economy
Approve 34%
Disapprove 64%
CBS/YouGov (B+) | n=2,181 | 07/26-28https://t.co/c7cssfXrja pic.twitter.com/Byoy1U1a2I
Americans' "economic mood keeps weighing on the president's overall numbers. His handling of the economy is as low as it's been, along with his overall approval rating too, which has been hovering in the low-40s range for more than a year, now down to 40 [percent]," CBS reports, despite opening its article on the poll results by marveling at how voters somehow aren't appreciative of the "macro stats" showing "GDP growth, stock gains and a strong labor market." CBS' message seems to be that the public shouldn't' be feeling so gloomy, but for some stubborn reason, they are. Republican administrations surely receive similar boosterism in the 'news' media's framing of economic hardship, don't they? To the journalists' frustration, Biden has slumped to an all-time low on overall approval in this series, with roughly two-thirds of the country disapproving of his handling of the top issue: The economy.
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Perhaps that's because of his decision to ignore urgent warnings from even Democratic economists and ram through trillions in reckless, profligate, dangerous spending – which did, in fact, fuel inflationary pain that remains acute, with prices still up double-digits since he took office. When the White House boasts of slowing inflation, it's important to note that prices are rising less steeply than before, but they're still rising. We need to be traveling south on inflation. We are still headed north, the wrong direction, just at a slower speed. The problem for the administration seems to be that people are actually aware that certain elements of the economic picture are relatively strong, like the job market. It's just not changing their opinion of the wider picture because their own difficulties and uncertainty overshadow the bright spots:
Americans do rate the job market stronger than the overall economy. https://t.co/1DK45FVQ7K pic.twitter.com/iwNznob91a
— CBS News Poll (@CBSNewsPoll) July 30, 2023
The employment picture is right-side up in this data set, by three points. The general verdict, however, is upside-down by 36 points. Fully 70 percent of Americans say their incomes aren't keeping up with inflation, despite Biden's misleading bragging. People's personal experiences tell a different story, clearly. A majority of voters say they're treading water in their own financial situation, with more than a third feeling like they're falling further behind. Just 13 percent believe they're "getting ahead." While his vice president was talking about the huge number of Americans who are one financial emergency away from oblivion, Biden was in Maine, beating the drums about an economic comeback. Embarrassingly, he tried to pretend that Republicans want to impeach him because inflation is less hot than it was last year:
BIDEN: "Maybe they'll decide to impeach me because [inflation] is coming down. I don't know. I love that one, uh, anyway, that's another story..." pic.twitter.com/5Ppn25S6Dg
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 28, 2023
Watching his characteristically hazy delivery of that cringe-inducing line (and this not-atypical oops), it's worth pointing out that his surrogates are still out there gamely pretending that everything's just fine. One Democratic Senator went on television yesterday and insisted there's "zero evidence that Joe Biden can't do this job." The same senator called growing accusations about the Biden's family enrichment and alleged corruption scheme a "witch hunt," also arguing that there's "never been any evidence" supporting the idea that the president compromised his office. It seems like Connecticut's Chris Murphy isn't very good at seeing or evaluating evidence. On that score, I'll leave you with a reminder of this polling data from earlier in the summer:
NBC POLL: "More than two-thirds of all voters say they have concerns about [Biden] having the necessary mental and physical health to serve" pic.twitter.com/s7ajbSJrvo
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 29, 2023
