It’s no secret that polling for Joe Biden isn’t looking good, especially when it comes to the economy. Americans aren’t happy with their bank accounts or their 401ks, and they’re pinning the blame on the president.
A new CNN poll shows that only 25% of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of inflation, while a mere 30% approve of his handling of the economy in general. Those numbers are blistering, but CNN thinks it’s unfair for people to blame Biden for the country’s economic troubles.
Stephen Collinson begins his analysis by stating the obvious.
“The plunge in confidence in Biden’s leadership may also reflect his administration’s blasé assurances last year that inflation was not a long-term concern, contradicting warnings of experts like former Democratic Treasury Secretary Larry Summers,” he writes.
Ya think? Sure, the administration’s tone-deafness about the seriousness of inflation doesn’t help Biden’s polling, but the White House’s policies when it comes to a number of things that didn’t help economic issues — shutting down domestic oil production, taking months to address the baby formula shortage, sitting on its hands through a supply chain crisis, just to name a few — are what voters really notice.
But Collinson points out that, you guys, it’s totally not Biden’s fault. So leave him alone!
“Whatever happened in the past, it’s clear that until Biden can convince the country he has inflation under control, his political fortunes are not likely to improve,” Collinson laments. “But the most daunting takeaway of the poll for Biden and Democrats, less than four months before the midterm elections, is that he has limited power to control the factor that could most dictate their fates.”
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Besides, Collinson says, Biden can’t do it all himself, even though it’s freakin’ awesome because he’s not Trump.
“Biden, seeking to restore independence and integrity to government after Donald Trump’s term, has stressed that primary responsibility for fighting inflation lies with the Federal Reserve, not the White House,” he writes.
First of all, we don’t see that many polls on the approval or disapproval of the Fed, and second, the bureaucrats at the Federal Reserve are unelected, but the president is accountable to the people.
If Biden can’t do anything, why is he crowing about how he’s “working” to lower gas prices slightly?
Gas prices have been dropping for 34 days straight, about 50 cents a gallon. That saves the average driver about $25 a month.
I know those extra dollars and cents mean something. It's breathing room. And we're not done working to get prices even lower.
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 18, 2022
But Collinson isn’t the only one at CNN carping about this. John Harwood made the laughable suggestion on Sunday that it’s not just Biden and his advanced age that’s the problem but that other, more sprightly leaders are seeing similar polling.
But a cursory glance at political conditions in other countries makes plain that, at least for now, Biden’s physical condition does not explain his political condition.
French President Emmanuel Macron (44) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (50) rank among the fittest, most vibrant heads of state in the world. Recent measures of their popularity match Biden’s standing in the most recent CNN average of major national polls: 39% approve, 58% disapprove.
That’s precious. Sure, those leaders are younger than Biden — by a lot — but they have more in common with him than they don’t. Macron and Trudeau are leftists who keep themselves beholden to the far-left in their respective countries, just like Biden.
This “don’t blame Biden” mentality isn’t just at CNN. Over at the Washington Post, Perry Bacon is whining that the media has been too hard on Biden and too soft on the GOP.
…in my view, media coverage is a big factor in those warped polling results. Media commitment to “equal” coverage of both parties has resulted in a year and a half of coverage since Biden entered office that implies both parties are similarly bad, as if the surge of inflation and some of Biden’s policy mistakes rival a Republican Party that is actively undermining democracy in numerous ways…
Sure, Perry. That’s the problem.
The media can continue to try to prop Biden up as a victim of other factors, but voters aren’t stupid. They know that his policies have played a large role in the economic problems the U.S. is facing, which is what polling continues to reflect.
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