Do you hear those alarm bells? That is the White House going into damage control after new polls are showing that President Joe Biden is hemorrhaging support among a voter demographic that he desperately needs if he is going to have a chance to win reelection in three years’ time.
The Details
There is an Associated Press – NORC poll that shows that Biden’s approval rating is sitting at 50% while his disapproval rating sits at 49%. This particular poll is showing that President Biden’s approval rating has tanked as much as 10 points in July when that same survey had shown Biden sitting at a much-healthier 59% approval rating.
However, the real story is just how poorly Biden is performing with independent voters, which is a demographic critical to winning the White House.
Since July, Biden has continued to hemorrhage support, more than 20 points from independent voters. That means that only 38% of independents now give Biden now approve of him. That is particularly bad news when you consider that 62% of this same voting bloc approved of him two months ago. Biden has even lost seven points among Democrats, with 85% approval down from 92% in July.
Among Black Americans, Biden’s support has totally cratered, down from 86% to 64% in just two months. The AP attempted to soften the blow by characterizing this massive decrease as nothing more than Biden’s support among people of color having been “dipped somewhat.”
In the story that covered the bad news for Biden, the AP made an attempt to draw blame toward former President Donald Trump.
In the follow-up interviews, some of these individuals had mixed feelings about Biden’s performance but they still saw him as preferable to former President Donald Trump.
They tended to give Biden the benefit of the doubt because he was dealing with a pandemic that began under Trump and he was trying to withdraw from Afghanistan and an economy that was slanted in favor of Trump’s tax cuts and the wealthy.
“Trump had a lot to do with what’s going on now,” said Acarla Strickland, 41, an Atlanta health care worker who voted for Biden but now feels lukewarm about him.
However, you and I both know that trying to blame Trump for Biden’s self-inflicted wounds only goes so far.
Not only is Biden facing some massive legislative battles on Capitol Hill, but he is also dealing with a COVID-19 pandemic that continues to rage under his leadership along with the border crisis and a botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.
What Else?
Not only does support for Biden continue to crater, but yet another poll is showing that yes, his promise to unify America is indeed becoming a foregone conclusion. However, it is not the way that Biden wants. You see, according to a recent Center for Politics poll conducted at the University of Virginia in partnership with Project Home Fire discovered that 41% of Biden supporters and 52% of Trump supporters believe that the country should be split among ideological lines.