President Joe Biden's approval ratings have been underwater for months now. But, the president just needed to have some successes, like passing the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and his reconciliation spending bill, known as the Build Back Better Act, or so we were told. Democrats, with the help of Republicans, passed the infrastructure bill last Friday, after much disarray and confusion, not to mention how there had been delays for months. Biden's other agenda item has to wait until later this month, after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scores the bill, to receive a vote. But hey, at least infrastructure has passed, and that means we are seeing plenty of poll bumps across the board, right?
Not quite.
There are still those who are holding onto hope. As Darragh Roche reported for Newsday on Thursday morning, "Joe Biden's Approval Ratings Set to Bounce Back As Infrastructure Deal Widely Supported."
There's also a slew of emails and tweets from the DNC and the DNC War Room touting the passage of the infrastructure bill and the benefits it will supposedly bring.
The DNC and the DNC War Room were thrilled to share Wednesday's reporting from Julia Manchester and Tal Axelrod for The Hill, that "Democrats start blitz to sell infrastructure." If one were to read that entire article, they would see that it provides balanced coverage, which is to say the Democrats have reason to be scared:
The loss in Virginia last week sent shivers down Democrats’ spines, echoing the 2009 loss the party suffered in that year’s gubernatorial race. On top of that, Democrats are trying to sell signature legislation — a recently passed infrastructure bill and a sprawling social and climate spending bill still being negotiated — just like they did with the Affordable Care Act in 2009 and 2010.
Those struggles come amid dwindling approval ratings for President Biden, whose figures are below those then-President Obama suffered from in 2009. Obama's dismal approval ratings helped spark the Tea Party movement in 2009, while backlash against Biden is fueling a nascent but mushrooming groundswell among Republicans and independents over education issues.
Republicans argue that Biden’s dwindling approval ratings drove the Republican victory in Virginia last week and a closer-than-expected gubernatorial race in New Jersey. A Suffolk University survey released earlier this week showed Biden’s approval rating at 38 percent.
Party operatives say they are banking on this trend to continue next year.
It's been a week since infrastructure passed. Yet averages from RealClearPolitics (RCP) and FiveThirtyEight show Biden is still underwater. His approval ratings have changed very little, actually, if at all.
For the time period of November 1-11, RCP has Biden at a 42.4 percent approval rating and a disapproval rating of 52.2 percent, almost a full 10 points underwater. FiveThirtyEight shows the president having a 42.8 percent approval rating and a 51.4 percent disapproval rating.
Further, when it comes to the Rasmussen Reports' daily tracker, Biden's disapproval rating actually went up from 55 percent on November 5 to 57 percent on November 8. He was at a 59 percent disapproval rating for November 9 and 10, at 58 percent for November 11, and 57 percent for November 12.
Similarly, that Rasmussen daily tracker showed Biden's approval rating drop from 43 percent on November 5 to 42 percent on November 8. He was at a 40 percent approval rating on November 9 and 10, at 41 percent on November 11, and 42 percent on November 12.
Looking to specific polls doesn't help Biden either.
A poll by RMG Research found that Biden has hit a new low, according to their polling, of 40 percent approval, with 55 percent disapproving. The poll was conducted on November 8-9 with 1,200 voters. A poll from November 4-7 had the president with a 44 percent approval rating and 50 percent disapproval rating.
A poll conducted by The Economist/YouGov on November 6-9 with 1,500 adults found that Biden had a 42 percent approval rating and a 48 percent disapproval rating.
The more nuanced questions are all bad for the president, but there's some particularly bad findings worth highlighting.
A plurality of respondents (37 percent) say Biden "doesn't care at all" when asked how much Biden cares about "the needs and problems of people like you." A plurality (27 percent) also say that they "dislike [Biden] a lot," though this is a particularly polarizing question, as the next highest answer is "like a lot," with 23 percent.
When it comes to Biden's leadership skills, the highest amount of respondents (40 percent) say he is a "very weak" leader, while the fewest amount (13 percent) say he is "very strong."
A plurality (45 percent) say they are "pessimistic" rather than "optimistic" (36 percent) about the next few years with Biden as president.
Then there's the really bad numbers, as in a majority, rather than a mere plurality, give Biden low marks. Fifty percent are "uneasy" about how Biden would deal with "an international crisis."
And, despite how he campaigned on unity, 58 percent say they don't believe he will be able to bring the country together. Even worse is that more respondents say they're "not sure" (27 percent) than those who do believe (15 percent) he will be able to. And, just 28 percent of Democrats believe that he can, while 29 percent believe he can't, and a plurality, of 43 percent, say they're "not sure."
While the infrastructure bill and reconciliation spending bill appear to be left out of the poll, it's worth noting that a plurality of respondents (38 percent) "strongly disapprove" of how Biden is handling "Taxes and government spending."
We're likely to hear that enough polls haven't been conducted yet, especially since Biden isn't doing a signing ceremony until Monday. While that may be true, time will tell if the signing of the legislation does produce any kind of a bump, or if the goal posts will simply be moved.