Texas isn't exactly a battleground state -- yet, at least -- but we shared some grim polling numbers for President Biden out of Lone Star country earlier in the week. Some additional data and survey findings trickling in from other states are likely causing heartburn inside the West Wing, as well as within the halls of Democratic campaign committee headquarters. If you missed it the other day, Biden is getting walloped in Iowa, according to the Hawkeye State's 'gold standard' poll:
President Joe Biden’s job approval rating has fallen 12 percentage points since June, our latest Iowa Poll shows. Today he’s at:
— Brianne Pfannenstiel (@brianneDMR) September 21, 2021
31% approve
62% disapprove
7% not sure
Story from ?@sgrubermiller?: https://t.co/1VQKKzUBNd
Pretty gruesome stuff for Biden in a state Barack Obama won twice. Meanwhile, a new national survey shows similar deterioration. As you see above, the Des Moines Register poll measured a 12-point drop in the president's statewide approval rating. One might argue that Iowa has trended red in recent years, so a big drop for Biden there may not be too alarming or representative, but Marquette's latest nationwide poll reflects a double-digit decline: "Biden’s approval dropped by 10 points in recent months as the withdrawal unfolded, the poll found. Forty-eight percent said they approved of how he was doing his job, down from 58 percent in July." Some notable cross tabs and trends, via Ed Morrissey:
Biden’s standing has eroded significantly between this survey and Marquette’s last poll in July. Two months ago, Biden’s job approval stood at 58/42, a +16 net. Today’s poll puts him at 48/52, a 20-point swing in the gap. Among independents, Biden went from 57/43 to a mirror-image 43/57 in that same period, a 28-point shift in the gap.
The president's chaotic bungling of the Afghanistan withdrawal -- complete with abandoning thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan allies in the Taliban-controlled country -- received especially poor marks. Ninety-four percent of Republican respondents, and 68 percent of independents, disapproved of Biden's handling of the retreat. Even a third of Democrats felt the same way. Those numbers could be even uglier, frankly:
Reminder: The President may have “turned the page,” as he put it this week, but many Americans remain stranded in a country run by terrorists. He pledged we would get them out, then he discarded the pledge. https://t.co/mdY7ftzIag
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) September 23, 2021
Meanwhile, Gallup has tracked a similar trajectory on overall approval. In the early months of his presidency, Biden was cruising along in the mid-50's, and then:
Gallup: Joe Biden's approval rating hits a new low, plunging 11 net points since last month to 43-53.
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) September 23, 2021
Biden's approval among independents is now down to 37% and, more surprisingly, just 36% among those aged 18-29.
Long way to go, but the polls are all flashing warning signs. pic.twitter.com/ySQkQnnxmQ
The American people aren't impressed with the Afghanistan or border crises, and America's economic rebound has been held back by spending-driven inflation and a COVID "policy" that often feels both political and adrift. Pew has also picked up a double-digit erosion on Biden approval. I'll leave you with this:
US jobless claims rise unexpectedly to 351,000 after falling to a pandemic low a week earlier https://t.co/54wsyzv28o
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) September 23, 2021
UPDATE - Swing districts, too:
Cook Political Report: "Private polling is picking up double-digit drops in Biden performance in competitive House seats."https://t.co/FLWfCam9Mg
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) September 23, 2021