President Joe Biden’s base for re-election gets worse daily. He was already deeply unpopular. His age was the first thing that comes to mind with most voters, and he hasn’t done anything. His three significant accomplishments are creating an immigration crisis, killing American working families with his inflationary policies, and passing an egregious spending bill that spiked said inflation. No one truly thinks he can do the job.
It's sporadic, but before and after the 2022 midterms, there was a flurry of stories from establishment media about how Joe can’t hack it. There’s an almost constant need for his staff to curate and clarify what he means, a task the president reportedly finds irritating. He’s irritable and angry, berating staffers on a whim, leading to staffers creating a buddy system in which an aide targeted for a verbal dressing-down has support; no one enters the Oval Office alone in these situations.
Biden’s inability to respond, let alone comment, on the worst wildfire in a century—the Maui wildfires—showcased the president’s extreme limitations. Nearly 100 people were killed in the fires that have cost at least $6 billion in damages. Biden chose not to comment on the rising death toll while on vacation, which drew a backlash. He also shacked up on Lake Tahoe before flying to Hawaii to observe the damage. The man needed two holidays while whole communities got charred.
So, roll all these weaknesses into the recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, and you have a political dead man, especially on one key crosstab: the one where they ask Americans if they’re better off than they were four years ago. It’s an election killer for any president who is on the wrong side of that survey—and Biden is right there (via ABC News):
President Joe Biden's job approval rating is 19 points underwater, his ratings for handling the economy and immigration are at career lows. A record number of Americans say they've become worse off under his presidency, three-quarters say he's too old for another term and Donald Trump is looking better in retrospect -- all severe challenges for Biden in his reelection campaign ahead.
Forty-four percent of Americans in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll say they've gotten worse off financially under Biden's presidency, the most for any president in ABC/Post polls since 1986. Just 37% approve of his job performance, while 56% disapprove. Still fewer approve of Biden's performance on the economy, 30%.
On handling immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Biden's rating is even lower, with 23% approval. In terms of intensity of sentiment, 20% strongly approve of his work overall, while 45% strongly disapprove. And the 74% who say he's too old for a second term is up 6 percentage points since May. Views that Trump is too old also are up, but to 50% in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates.
Such is down-on-Biden sentiment that if a government shutdown occurs at month's end, 40% say they'd chiefly blame him and the Democrats in Congress, versus 33% who'd pin it on the Republicans in Congress -- even given the GOP infighting behind the budget impasse.
[…]
A remarkable 62% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say the party should pick someone other than Biden as its nominee in 2024; just a third back Biden. Desire for a different candidate is at a numerical high, but also consistent with past results (56 to 58%) the past year.
It’s still not a cakewalk for Trump or the GOP. First, while the party base loves Trump, the general electorate finds him just as unappealing. Both Biden and Trump are unpopular. The new political dynamics play a factor, with Democratic Party operatives trying to shake their side to attention because they know Trump can win in 2024. Biden still has the advantages of an incumbent president. Both men are dealing with legal issues. It’s going to be a close election, no matter what. But when nearly half the country says life under Biden is financially worse for them than it was four years ago, it is a political injury that may not be recoverable, especially since Biden seems distracted by niche lefty causes than governing. And if he’s not doing any of that, he’s taking naps or going on vacation.
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Sorry, folks, here's something I forgot to add regarding a hypothetical matchup:
👀
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) September 24, 2023
New WaPo/ABC poll:
Trump 52
Biden 42 https://t.co/8qtlOtqUMe
But also:
Pick your poll. New WaPo/ABC has Trump +10 — NBC has the hypothetical race tied: https://t.co/NRUq6fNX8M
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) September 24, 2023
Again, 2024 is going to be close, no matter what.
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