Even though most opinion-makers think he is doing things right, US President Joe Biden cannot catch a break from US public opinion. The problem lies in his flaws as a political persona, in his over-promising of what he could deliver early on, and in a recent stream of bad luck.
WASHINGTON, DC – Poor Joe Biden. Even when, according to most opinion-makers, he’s been doing things right, he cannot get a break in the public’s opinion. Despite the fact that Biden pulled NATO out of the ditch into which Donald Trump had kicked it (in order to destroy the alliance, something Russian President Vladimir Putin desired), restored America’s global leadership, and made more progress in reviving the economy in 15 months than almost anyone thought possible, his poll numbers remain abysmally low.
At Biden’s urging, Congress passed legislation, which had been hanging about for years, to make big investments in America’s deteriorating infrastructure. Unusually in the current hyper-partisan climate, Republicans in both chambers backed the infrastructure bill (their constituents also don’t want their bridges to collapse). Biden improved the government’s response to the ravages of a pandemic, including passage of a $1.9 trillion rescue plan to help individuals and the economy. He also salvaged the US Postal Service, something Trump had politicized almost beyond recognition.
Yet, Biden’s poll numbers have dropped to a dismal 40% approval rating. At the same time, large majorities seem to feel that the country is headed in the wrong direction – the measurement to which some political strategists pay the most attention. Even his winning Senate confirmation of a historic figure, the first black woman to sit on the Supreme Court, did little to improve his overall political situation. Blacks and their allies have a much larger agenda, especially the effort to restore voting rights that the Republicans have been curtailing, something which Biden hasn’t been able to deliver on because of the filibuster.
WASHINGTON, DC – Poor Joe Biden. Even when, according to most opinion-makers, he’s been doing things right, he cannot get a break in the public’s opinion. Despite the fact that Biden pulled NATO out of the ditch into which Donald Trump had kicked it (in order to destroy the alliance, something Russian President Vladimir Putin desired), restored America’s global leadership, and made more progress in reviving the economy in 15 months than almost anyone thought possible, his poll numbers remain abysmally low.
At Biden’s urging, Congress passed legislation, which had been hanging about for years, to make big investments in America’s deteriorating infrastructure. Unusually in the current hyper-partisan climate, Republicans in both chambers backed the infrastructure bill (their constituents also don’t want their bridges to collapse). Biden improved the government’s response to the ravages of a pandemic, including passage of a $1.9 trillion rescue plan to help individuals and the economy. He also salvaged the US Postal Service, something Trump had politicized almost beyond recognition.
Yet, Biden’s poll numbers have dropped to a dismal 40% approval rating. At the same time, large majorities seem to feel that the country is headed in the wrong direction – the measurement to which some political strategists pay the most attention. Even his winning Senate confirmation of a historic figure, the first black woman to sit on the Supreme Court, did little to improve his overall political situation. Blacks and their allies have a much larger agenda, especially the effort to restore voting rights that the Republicans have been curtailing, something which Biden hasn’t been able to deliver on because of the filibuster.