The White House announced earlier this summer that President Biden would be hitting the road to talk to Americans about "Bidenomics" and try — yet again — to convince Americans that they are doing better than they actually are. President Biden, the White House insisted, makes his case best when he's talking directly to Americans. Well, we now have hard data to prove it isn't working.
Instead of buoying Biden's chronically underwater job approval when it comes to his handling of the economy, Americans still aren't buying what Biden and his administration are selling. That inconvenient reality for the president as he looks toward 2024 was reinforced again this week in a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Noting how "President Joe Biden has devoted the past several weeks to promoting the positive impacts of his policies," AP delivers the blow: "his efforts have yet to meaningfully register with the public." Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that, despite White House claims, Americans are still struggling to make ends meet and weighed down by the lasting pain caused by more than 24 consecutive months of negative real wages since Biden took office, now paired with the highest interest rates in four decades.
The AP-NORC poll found that just 36 percent of American adults say they approve of Biden's handling of the economy, even fewer than the also-underwater 42 percent who approve of Biden's overall job performance. According to AP both data points "are close to where Biden’s approval numbers have stood for about the past year and a half, including just two months ago." That is, attempts by Biden and others in his administration have failed to move the needled as they had hoped.
Anecdotally, AP found that Biden's recent push to sell his economic agenda is not only failing to convince Americans that things are improving, the president still hasn't succeeded at explaining what "Bidenomics" even is:
The president has used the term “Bidenomics” to try to encompass his ideas to lower costs for people on Medicare, shift toward electric vehicles and renewable energy, and build factories for advanced computer chips and batteries. Yet some are still struggling to understand what the term means.
Asked about the definition of Bidenomics, Cory O’Brien, 39, said: “You know what, dude, I have no idea. Biden is a free market capitalist like most moderate Democrats are.”
When asked about the economy in general, 34 percent said it is "very" or "somewhat good." Part of the reason Americans aren't thrilled with Biden's handling (read: botching) of the economy could be due to other polling markers highlighted by AP.
Just 23 percent of those polled said they have "a great deal of confidence in Biden's ability to effectively manage the White House" while 31 percent have "some" and 45 percent have "hardly any" confidence. When it comes to Biden's ability to achieve policy goals, 16 percent of Americans have "high confidence in his ability" to do so while 44 percent have "hardly any" confidence he'll achieve what he says he will.
President Joe "Build Back Better" Biden has only himself to blame for his underwater and lagging poll numbers — he promised a whole lot and has delivered mostly hardship as a result. No matter how much Biden works to spin things in his favor, his gaffe-filled remarks can't overcome the real pain Americans are feeling or the economic woes they face.