The New York Times spoke to independent voters about Joe Biden and the 2024 election, and the comments were brutal for the president. The worst part is that we’re only in February; the economy is bound to continue in this endless cycle of mediocrity, and inflation will remain at unacceptable levels. All the Biden-Harris team has right now is wine-sipping women from the suburbs, who think abortion is the only issue on the ballot, keeping this White House from falling off the political cliff. For everyone else, the grocery store and the other household bills are on voters' minds, and this focus group was especially unembellished about how the president is doing.
Mike Miller at RedState unpacked the focus group of 13 self-identified independents that left the Times aghast. The words they selected to describe Joe—absolutely brutal:
"Lost"
"Disaster"
"Necessary"
"Stressed"
"Anxious"
"Are we allowed to curse, or no? Bullsh*t."
"Anxiety"
"Worried"
"Indifferent."
"Ugh"
"Abyss"
"Concerned"
"Disaster"
Other observations were a mix of all things bad for the Delaware liberal, including the general feeling that Joe cannot be a competent leader and commander-in-chief, the absence of a president, and a grossly disingenuous one. The worst part for the Biden team is that it probably won’t gain much traction if they want a character debate. For all his faults, Trump was seen as a president, and he brought problems that had long been festering in the country's underbelly into the light. Also, there was a general feeling that Trump was just better.
The focus group was 13 voters, with 11 leaning toward voting for Trump. Miller added that several of these folks also had bad things to say about Trump, but here’s one key quote: "To me, it doesn’t affect anything. His life, he puts it right out there. I’m sick of hearing it, but it’s him. So, if I’m going to vote for him, that’s part of what I accept."
When the chips are down and you need a president to rebuild the economy, you want the man, faults and all, who can do it. Trump showed that, whereas Biden falls, talks to dead European leaders, and salivates over Donna Kelce’s chocolate chip cookies.
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