OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Democratic strategists are renewing previous warnings that the party is in trouble as the 2022 midterms draw closer, thanks in large part to mistakes by President Joe Biden.
There is no question among many that the country is in far worse shape now than before Biden took office, what with Americans struggling with higher food, fuel, and energy costs as well as shortages of baby formula, tampons, and other enduring supply chain issues.
The problem, Democratic insiders and strategists say, is that a growing majority of Americans believe those issues have either been created or made worse by Biden’s policies.
“There’s the administrative part of the job and the political part of the job, and it seems like this president is leaning more in the administrative role at a time when his coalition is thirsty for political clarity and leadership,” Democrat strategist Joel Payne said in an interview with The Hill published Wednesday.
“The president and his team have to be vigilant about providing that and balance the need to do both,” Payne added.
Another Dem strategist whose remained anonymous blasted the Biden White House as well as administration officials in demanding that they do much more in order to solve a host of issues that appear to grow worse by the day.
“It’s infuriating,” the top strategist reportedly stated. “Our house is on fire and it seems like they’re doing nothing to put the fire out. They’re just watching it with the rest of us.”
Worries regarding Biden’s performance from within the Beltway coincide with polling that shows the president is losing support across the U.S., Breitbart News added:
Biden is underwater in 48 states — including the typically dark blue California and his home state of Delaware — while his approval rating is down to the lowest in his presidency, at only 30 percent approval and 58 percent disapproval, according to the most recent CIVIQS rolling job-approval average on July 3.
While twelve percent of survey participants do not approve or disapprove, Biden’s approval rating is underwater in 48 states. The only two exceptions are Hawaii (45 to 42 percent) and Vermont (44 to 38 percent). The president’s net approval is at negative 28.
Of course, the president has his backers too, including former White House adviser Cedric Richmond, who bailed on the administration earlier this year.
“The country didn’t elect Joe Biden because they wanted a Democratic Donald Trump to go out there every day and divide the country more,” Richmond said, according to Politico Playbook.
He then added that Democrats taking aim at Biden are “scapegoating the President, or distracted and not focusing on what they should be focused on. He saved democracy once by beating a tyrant. He’s doing it again, but he doesn’t do it by beating his chest.”
Richmond’s cheerleading aside, a clear majority of Americans do not share his view.
According to the Yahoo/YouGov survey released on Saturday, 64 percent said Biden shouldn’t run, or 9 points worse than Trump.
What’s more, the same survey found that Trump beats Biden in a head-to-head rematch, according to Mediaite, though 55 percent said they did not want the former president to run again, either.
In the ‘yes’ column, Biden polled at 21 percent versus 31 percent for Trump.
There is more bad news for Biden in the survey as well. Even among Democrats, most would not encourage him to seek reelection: Just 42 percent want him to, while just over one-third, or 36 percent, said he shouldn’t.
Meanwhile, a good majority of Republicans — 58 percent — would encourage Trump to run again while just one-quarter, or 25 percent, would not.
Even worse, just 40 percent of those who voted for him in 2020 want him to run again while 37 percent of those voters do not.
In a rematch, according to the poll, Trump wins handily, 42 percent to 39 percent.
Overall, Biden’s approval ratings have been in a freefall for nearly a year, now reaching a level that is below that of his predecessor.
