US President Joe Biden’s approval numbers have continued their downward fall as inflation and gas prices skyrocket, a development that has only raised the stakes among Americans fraught with concern and fear of what’s to come in the near future.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 41% of voters approve of the job the president is doing, while 53% explicitly disapprove. A CNBC poll has even more dire numbers, with Biden’s approval sitting at a paltry 38%.
The numbers spell doom for Democrats in ahead of the midterm elections in November, when they are expected to lose control of Congress to Republicans. The only question seems to be: How bad will the shallacking turn out?
A Democratic strategist speaking to The Hill believes it will be a “biblical disaster” for Democrats. The party that holds the White House typically does poorly in midterm elections, and bad polling numbers for the president will likely exacerbate the defeat.
Biden has been trying to tout job numbers as a way to paint his performance in a favorable light, but so far, voters are not buying it.
“Today’s report shows that my plan to build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out is working to get America back to work,” Biden said in a White House-released statement. “Since I took office, the economy has created 7.4 million jobs. That’s 7.4 million jobs providing families with dignity and a little more breathing room. We are building a better America.”
But with inflation at a 41-year high of 8.5% and wages failing to keep up, American voters are finding little comfort in Biden’s job numbers. Only 17% of Americans rank the economy as excellent or good, according to the CNBC poll.
Biden has been blaming inflation on Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, but inflation started its rapid rise long before the operation even started. However, that strategy does seem to be working to an extent: 55% of Americans did point to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a cause of inflation in the CNBC poll, but that hasn’t resulted in Americans letting Biden off the hook as 49% blame Biden’s policies.
The old trick of blaming the last guy, often utilized by both parties, likely will not be a winning strategy this year. Only 28% of Americans blame former US President Donald Trump for the situation America is in now.
There is still time for Democrats to turn the ship around before the 2022 midterms, but it will likely require getting a handle on inflation and improving the economy, rather than platitudes and blame shifting, to be effective.