A poll tracking President Biden's job approval conducted by Marist and PBS News Hour hit a new low on Monday, down one point from his previous low mark reached earlier in December. As PBS reported, the ever-decreasing approval for Biden continues to be driven down by independents who are growing "sour on his leadership."
"As President Joe Biden heads into the end of the year, he’s facing a sour reality: The number of Americans who approve of his performance has hit a new low," PBS explained of the latest data. "Just 41 percent of Americans approve of the job he has been doing as president." For conservatives and those honest about what's going on in the country, it's surprising Biden is still above 40 percent approval. For Democrats — especially vulnerable members of the House and Senate who will face voters in November — it should be yet another wakeup call. Fortunately for Republicans, it probably won't be.
NEW: The number of Americans who approve of President Joe Biden's job performance has hit a new low – 41%.
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) December 20, 2021
That's according to a new PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll.
Overall, more than half – 55% – of Americans disapprove of Biden’s performance. https://t.co/36OmZpiwrT pic.twitter.com/tZA6cikX6j
The Marist/PBS News Hour poll also found that with 55 percent disapproving of the job Biden's done in his first year, 44 percent "strongly disapprove." People aren't just temporarily upset with something Biden did — they know he's not leading well. From Afghanistan, to addressing the Wuhan coronavirus, to runaway inflation and a broken supply chain, there's little question for those who aren't blind partisans that Biden isn't cutting it as a leader.
And while a majority of Democrats approve of the job Biden's doing, his own supporters have been dropping off too. As PBS notes of its poll, "even among blue voters, his disapproval rating has jumped 7 points since he took office."
But what should be even more worrying to Democrats is what's happened to Biden's approval among independent voters: "Two-thirds of independent voters disapprove of Biden, including half who strongly disapprove," highlights PBS. "Both numbers are up at least 30 points since he took office. Just 29 percent of independents approve of his job performance." Woof.
Those independent voters will prove decisive in the midterm elections as many voters nationwide have their first chance to register their opinion of the Biden-Democrat agenda, and vulnerable Democrats running in swing districts will need to convince independent voters that they're not rubber stamps for the unpopular Biden agenda. Pelosi ramming through a vote on Build Back Better in the House before it stalled out and crashed for the year in the Senate makes the case Democrats need to make to bring independents over to their side that much more difficult.
As Townhall has previously covered, generic congressional ballot questions posed in numerous polls show that Republicans have the advantage over Democrats, though a lot can happen in the intervening months before the midterms.