President Joe Biden is at his personal lowest in yet another poll. On Thursday, NPR/Marist released their December poll, which showed the president with a 42 percent approval rating and a 51 percent disapproval rating. Biden was also at 42 percent approval in a November 24 poll also conducted by NPR/Marist. While this 51 percent disapproval is Biden's worst, he also experienced that same disapproval rating in the September 3 poll and has fared slightly better between then and now.
An NPR write-up on Thursday from Domenico Montanaro and Kelsey Snell delves deeper into the partisan sentiments for Biden. And it's not good:
The president's approval rating was just 42% in this survey, tied with a late November poll for the lowest Marist had found since Biden took office.
What's more, the intensity of disapproval is high — 38% said they strongly disapprove of Biden. That's close to the territory that President Donald Trump resided in during his term.
While the numbers are a sign of a deeply polarized society, there's also evidence of lackluster feelings for the president among even people in his own party.
For example, in the survey, while 76% of Republicans strongly disapproved of the job Biden is doing, only 38% of Democrats strongly approved.
Looking at the poll when it comes to the points mentioned above in the write-up, a strong majority of Republicans "strongly disapprove" of Biden. A plurality of Independents, at 38 percent, also "strongly disapprove." However, not even a plurality of Democrats "strongly approve" of Biden. As mentioned above, only 38 percent of the president's base does. Rather, a plurality, at 44 percent, "approve."
When it comes to respondents overall, a plurality, at 38 percent, "strongly disapprove." Twenty-six percent say they "approve," while 16 percent say they "strongly approve" and 13 percent "disapprove."
Montanaro and Snell's write-up focused on how "A new poll finds major warning signs for Biden and fellow Democrats."
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They began their piece:
Americans don't feel the direct payments or expanded child tax credits doled out earlier this year helped them much, according to the latest NPR/Marist poll, and they don't see Democrats' signature legislation as addressing their top economic concern — inflation.
Additionally, they're down on the job President Biden is doing, don't give him much credit for the direct payments or tax credits, and have soured on the direction of the country.
The results, out Thursday, come as Democrats prepare a nationwide push to sell voters on their policies ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, when the party will defend its slim majorities in both the House and the Senate.
The elections are less than a year away, though some caution that the president has time for his ratings to improve. That being said, we've heard that all said before, with assurances that the president's approval ratings would improve once infrastructure and the reconciliation spending bills were passed. The former has passed though, with Biden even signing it into law last month in a bipartisan signing ceremony, and yet he continues to fare poorly in the polls.
Additional questions in the poll asked about how President Biden is handling the Wuhan coronavirus. While a majority at 50 percent still approve, that number has been decreasing for the president. Forty-four percent disapprove.
When it comes to how respondents feel about the direction the country is going in, just 34 percent said the "right direction" while 61 percent said the "wrong direction." Further, a lot fewer Democrats, at 63 percent, said the country was going in the "right direction," than the 88 percent of Republicans who said it was going in the "wrong direction." Sixty-five percent of Independents said it was going in the "wrong direction."
The poll and its write-up also noted that respondents may support infrastructure, but aren't crazy about the reconciliation spending bill, also known as Build Back Better:
Americans do mostly endorse the new infrastructure law but are less supportive of Democrats' Build Back Better bill that has passed the House. And while that legislation would expand the social safety net, survey respondents weren't convinced that it would help people like them.
"They [Democrats] don't have a unified message for what they're doing, and that does not bode well for the party," said Barbara Carvalho, director of the Marist Poll...
A majority — 56% — said they support the infrastructure bill that went into law recently. Almost 7 in 10 said they were optimistic it would improve roads and bridges, and a slim majority was optimistic that it would create better-paying jobs.
Fewer supported the Build Back Better legislation that passed the House and that the Senate is considering — 41% said they supported it, 34% said they were opposed and 25% were unsure. That included a significant chunk of independents, who were split on what they thought of the bill.
Perhaps more worrying for Democrats, their message on what the legislation can do for regular people does not appear to be getting through. By a 46% to 42% margin, respondents said they were pessimistic it would help people like them.
As I discussed in a VIP piece from Wednesday night, the DNC War Room actually touted support for Build Back Better with a Monmouth University poll that indeed showed slightly better results when it comes to opinions from adults on the legislation. However, that same Monmouth poll that the DNC War Room touted showed Biden underwater by 10 points, as 40 percent approved while 50 percent disapproved.
The NPR/Marist poll was conducted November 30-December 6 with 1,172 adults and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
According to the RealClearPolitics (RCP) average, which includes the NPR/Marist poll, Biden is at a 42.3 approval rating and 52 percent disapproval rating.
