OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Another new survey shows President Joe Biden falling further behind former President Donald Trump on the issues voters care most about this election year.
According to theĀ ABC/Ipsos poll conducted between March 8 and 9 of 539 adults, 36 percent of respondents said that they trusted Trump compared to 33 percent who said they trusted Biden, while 30 percent said neither candidate had their trust.
Former President Trump received higher ratings than President Biden on all issues except abortion and climate change when respondents were asked about their opinions on the job performance of both presidents, The Post Millennial reported, citing the survey.
Trump garnered a 49 percent favorable rating on the economy, contrasting with Biden’s 37 percent. Regarding inflation, 45 percent approved of Donald Trump, compared to 31 percent for Biden. Regarding crime, Trump was viewed more favorably at 41 percent compared to Biden’s 35 percent. Similarly, on immigration, the former president received a 45 percent favorable rating, while Biden trailed with 29 percent.
A new analysis says that post-State of the Union Address polling is doesnāt align with the hyping of Bidenās performance by fellow Democrats and the bulk of the āmainstreamā media.
Writing in the Washington Post, Aaron Blake said that āitās not so clear the American public saw the home run that they did,ā adding that instant post-speech polling from CNN and a few other outlets wasnāt as good as it normally could have been.
Bidenās campaign and several media outlets have highlighted a post-speech instant CNN poll indicating that 65 percent of viewers gave a positive review of Bidenās speech. Additionally, viewersā perception of the countryās direction shifted by 17 points, with 62 percent believing the country is headed in the right direction after the speech, up from 45 percent before, Blake wrote, adding:
Both of these are true. Whatās also true is that State of the Union speeches almost always receive strongly favorable views, in part because viewership tends to draw disproportionately from their allies.
The 65 percent who had a positive view of the speech was actually lower than any such speech CNN has polled in the past quarter-century ā the previous low being Donald Trumpās 2018 address (70 percent).
The 35 percent who gave a āveryā positive review effectively tied with last yearās rating (34 percent) for the lowest on record. Following closely were Bidenās 2022 speech and George W. Bushās 2007 speech, each receiving āveryā positive marks from 41 percent of viewers.
āThe 17-point shift toward the country moving in the āright directionā was also unremarkable, historically speaking. Dating back to Bill Clintonās 1998 State of the Union address, viewers have shifted an average of 15 points toward that more optimistic view,ā Blake wrote.
āNow we get to the caveat, and thatās that viewers Thursday were less aligned with the president than your average State of the Union audience ā potentially because weāre in a campaign year or because questions about Bidenās ability to perform drew in more people who were skeptical of him,ā he continued. āThat appears to explain at least part of the poorer-than-normal reviews ā but not all.ā
In the CNN sample, 36 percent identified as Democratic and 30 percent as Republican. Typically, members of a presidentās party outnumber those of the opposite party by double digits in such surveys, he pointed out.
Politicos have observed similarly divided audiences in the past but with stronger reviews. In Trumpās 2017 and 2018 speeches, Republicans outnumbered Democrats by just five percentage points in CNNās sample.
Despite this, Trump received stronger reviews in those speeches compared to Bidenās on Thursday: 78 percent positive (including 57 percent āveryā positive) in 2017, and 70 percent positive reviews (including 48 percent āveryā positive) in 2018, Blake explained.
Itās still early, and itās important to remain vigilant for additional dataābeyond just direct reviews of the speechāthat may emerge in the days and weeks ahead, he cautioned.
Basic reviews of the speech might not fully capture how peopleās perceptions may have fundamentally evolved, especially regarding issues such as Bidenās acuity. Those are the numbers that truly demand our attention, he said.