I'm not sure how much worse things can get for Joe Biden, but we're essentially at a point now where replacing him on the ballot is mentioned as a viable option. In the absence of such a drastic measure, Democrats are basically stuck with a candidate who has gutted the Democratic coalition. Young voters, black voters, and Hispanic voters have swung significantly to the right over the past three years, thanks to the disaster that has been the Biden administration.
The swing of these constituencies towards the GOP makes it hard for Biden to compete in the general election. But now, another incredibly important voting bloc is presenting a huge problem for Biden: independent voters.
With an increasingly partisan electorate, elections are won and lost based on who can appeal to independent voters. Based on a new New York Times focus group of 13 independent voters, it looks like the Biden-Harris campaign is veering off a cliff with record speed.
The paper spoke at length with 13 undecided, independent voters about the upcoming presidential election and the issues that would affect their vote. The focus group consisted of seven men and six women ranging from 22-64 years old. And, as you can imagine, the New York Times couldn't believe the results.
"What can President Biden say and do to win over undecided voters? What concerns and arguments will draw these voters to Donald Trump?" the paper asked. "For our latest Times Opinion focus group, we spoke with 13 undecided independent voters from across the country about how they see the two leading presidential candidates and explored some issues that might affect how they vote in November. To a striking degree, most of the participants tilted toward Mr. Trump, even though they disliked his personality."
Most is an understatement. Of the 13 participants, 11 indicated they were leaning toward voting for Trump.
The economy was clearly the top issue of the focus group, while others were concerned about the Israel-Hamas war. "The participants’ comments indicated that most did not feel they were in good hands with Mr. Biden or trust that they would be, using words like 'senile,' 'unfit' and 'disingenuous' to describe him," the New York Times explained. "And while the group viewed Mr. Trump negatively, some people suggested that the country was on its toes more with him in office."
When asked by the moderator how they would describe Biden as a person, the responses were quite telling.
"I’m very young, so I’m going to say what a Gen Z person would say," explained Natalie, a 22-year-old administrative clerk from New Jersey. "He’s a little bit senile, and I do think if you can’t do the job, it’s time to step down."
"I don’t know what he’s done," said Kim, a black 43-year-old counselor in North Carolina. "It just seems like he’s just throwing things out there to please almost anyone."
Richard, a 36-year-old architect from Arizona, called Biden "unfit for the presidency."
"A president should be the commander in chief," he said. "And he does not appear to be a capable commander in chief."
The New York Times even asked the participants to name the biggest accomplishment of the Biden administration. One cited the infrastructure bills because he works in the sector that these bills affect. But otherwise, the responses were brutal.
Related: Now We Know Who Thought It Was a Good Idea for Biden to Deliver His Angry Speech
"Has he done anything?" said Robin, a 59-year-old retiree from New Hampshire. "Because I haven’t seen it."
Ouch.
"I think his presidency has been very weak and divisive," said 61-year-old Hal from Florida. "But if there’s a positive, I would say the infrastructure as well."
"For me, economywise, nothing. But I appreciate his support of Ukraine," said Pavel, 49, of Nevada.
Perhaps even worse for Biden is that these voters don't want to hear him talk anymore about one of the issues he wants to make a cornerstone of his campaign: abortion.
"It’s the states. It’s not the president," said Natalie. "I don’t want to hear Biden talking about my abortion."
"I hate to say, there’s bigger issues besides abortion right now," Kim said.
None of the participants were able to say anything nice about Trump as a person, but that didn't seem to matter much.
The focus group didn't seem to be affected by Trump's legal troubles, either, with multiple participants saying that the results wouldn't have an impact on their votes.
These people represent the voters who need to be won in November to win the election. Ultimately, these people are going to vote in their best interest, and for that reason, all but two are leaning toward Trump.
