President Joe Biden continues to fare poorly in polls, whichever way you look at it. What would be particularly concerning news for the president, though, if he bothered to pay attention to the polls, is that he's losing ground where he really shouldn't be.
Even New York, a reliably Democratic state that's no fan of Biden's predecessor, former President Donald Trump, seems to be through. The same goes for California, prompting Darragh Roche's headline of "Joe Biden's Approval Ratings Are Terrible, Even in Blue States—Polls" for Newsweek on Wednesday morning.
According to a monthly Siena poll released on Tuesday, the president is at his lowest ratings in his presidency when it comes to this poll, though that personal low has also been the case for Biden in other polls as well. Voters are evenly split on whether they have a favorable opinion of him, which is now at a 48-48 percent approval rating. Last month, it was at 52-42 percent. His job performance is also experiencing a negative, at 36-63 percent.
While voters may be evenly split, it gets worse for Biden when examining the crosstabs. Just 11 percent think he's doing an "excellent" job. Not even Democrats think he's doing an "excellent" job, as a plurality, at 36 percent, instead said "good." Nineteen percent of fellow Democrats say he's doing an "excellent" job, not too far off from the 16 percent who think he's doing a "poor" job.
A plurality of overall voters, at 38 percent, think Biden's doing a "poor" job. Twenty-five percent say he's doing a "good" job, while the same amount says he's doing a "fair" job.
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The Siena poll was conducted February 14-17, with 803 registered New York voters. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent.
While Biden's numbers are within the margin of error in California, more voters disapprove of his performance than approve, by 48-47 percent, according to a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released on February 16. Vice President Kamala Harris, who previously represented the state as its U.S. Senator, fares even worse, with just a 38 percent approval rating, while 46 percent disapprove. A significant 16 percent have no opinion.
Once again, a plurality of voters have the strongest views against Biden, with 34 percent saying they "disapprove strongly" against Biden. Similarly, 35 percent say so about Harris.
Civiqs also has bad news for these states. In New York, data shows that just 39 percent approve, while 49 percent disapprove and 12 percent neither approve nor disapprove. In California, his approval rating is at 42 percent while 47 percent disapprove and 11 percent neither approve nor disapprove.
It's not merely specific demographics where the president is performing poorly, though those certainly are cause for concern. It's the issues as well.
The Gallup poll, released on Monday, is making headlines where how the president is underwater on every issue. In his write-up for Gallup, Jeffrey M. Jones notes that Biden's issue approval ratings are "mostly steady," but Biden's been performing poorly for months, and he's been sinking lower. Even if it's a little bit each month, we're only getting closer to the midterm elections.
According to the Gallup poll, Biden is also underwater when it comes to his overall job performance, in that 41 percent approve while 55 percent disapprove.
When it comes to his "response to the coronavirus," 47 percent approve, while 52 percent disapprove. While it still remains Biden's best issue, his ratings have taken a particularly steep dive. On foreign policy, 40 percent approve on his handling of "foreign affairs," while 56 percent disapprove. Just 37 percent approve on the economy, while 62 percent disapprove. On the "situation with Russia," Biden has just a 36 percent approval rating, while 55 percent disapprove.
Jones also highlights how Biden is continuing to lose support among Democrats. Once at 98 percent last February, it's now at 79 percent among members of Biden's own party.
The Gallup poll was conducted February 1-17, with a sample of 1,008 adults and a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
According to the RealClearPolitics (RCP) average, which contains polls from February 1-22, Biden is at an approval rating of 41.7 percent and a disapproval rating of 52.8 percent. FiveThirtyEight, last updated on Wednesday, has him at a 42.4 percent approval rating and a 52.7 percent disapproval rating.
