On Biden’s Shrinking Approval: He Inherited Bigger Crises than Any President Since Roosevelt
Afghanistan, abortion piled onto pile of crises president has been facing since taking office
President Biden's taken a drubbing in recent weeks for his handling of events in Afghanistan. And, that, in turn, has helped to drive his once-robust approval numbers to their lowest point so far in his presidency.
The latest MPR/PBS/Marist poll has Biden's approval down at 43 percent. That is a level more associated with Donald Trump during his term, it should be noted, and down in that poll 6 points from July.
“He can bounce back from some of these things, but I do think he’s paying a price,” said David Gergen, who served as a White House advisor for presidents of both political parties. “Increasingly, a White House in August of its first year looks toward the midterm elections, and as you know, the rule of thumb is that if the sitting president is above 50 percent in the polls, does well by elections, but if his popularity or approval rating is below 50 percent, he often loses 30 seats or so, which in this case would give the Republicans the House as well as the Senate. So this is serious stuff.
“But, Jim, I think it’s worth remembering that Joe Biden inherited more crises, bigger crises than any president since Franklin Roosevelt,” Gergen added in an on-air interview. “And the early weeks, the early months of this administration, they did seem to be getting on a couple of things. They were coming to grips with things that had very sensible proposals, the country was pleased, he was above 50 percent.
“But in these last few weeks, there is an increasing sense that the wheels are coming off the bus, that the four crises he inherited are not getting better, not substantially better,” he said. “Pandemic, we’re seeing the deaths rise again. Jobs and the numbers, as you say, are extremely disappointing today. But the climate, whether you’re looking at New Orleans or New Jersey from the floods or you’re looking at Lake Tahoe and the fires, that is palpably worse.
“But there are two new crises on his desk since he took office: One is Afghanistan and now increasingly abortion,” Gergen added, referring to the strict abortion ban which just went into effect Wednesday.
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