Democrats vent over Biden’s lackluster poll numbers: ‘It’s frustrating’
A growing chorus of Democrats are becoming disheartened by President Biden’s polling numbers — which remain in a slump amid a sprinkle of positive economic developments.
Both in private and in public, Democrats have grappled with the lackluster figures, calling for a messaging recalibration and even downplaying the situation.
“It’s frustrating,” Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Col.) said, per The Hill.
“They think inflation is still running away,” he said of voters. “Inflation … [is] relatively speaking, under control. Now we’re not at two percent, but we’re darn close.
“I think we have to find some fresh ways of letting people know that the reality of what we’re seeing is little short of a miracle.”
Voters soured on Biden over red-hot inflation that gripped the first two years of his presidency.
But in the time since, pricing pressure has begun to cool. Inflation, which once roared as high as 7% in 2021, rang in at 3.2% in terms of the annual rate for July, per a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report.
Recently, the Biden campaign and allied Super PACs tapped into its vast war chests to mount an ad blitz to buoy the 2024 incumbent. This entailed many positive ads on Biden.
But polls still showed some cause for concern.
Biden has a wafer-thin 0.4 percentage point edge over his leading Republican foe former President Donald Trump, per the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate.
A recent CNN/SSRS poll found him trailing Trump, 77, by one point, which was within the margin of error.
But the poll found that Biden’s approval sat at 39%, with 58% having an unfavorable view of the 80-year-old president and nearly three-quarters concerned about his age.
“There’s work to be done, stronger messaging, more aggressive campaigning but we’re still very, very early,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said, per The Hill.
Some Democrats, though, have shrugged the polling off.
“I want to say I saw some poll that didn’t look so good but I also saw it had 59% Republicans as respondents. Well, I think he did very well in a poll with 59% Republican respondents,” House Speaker emeritus Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told MSNBC last week.
The CNN poll surveyed 1,503 adults with a Republican oversample of 898. But it claimed to have used a sample of 32% voters who identified as Democrats, 32% as Republicans and 35% as Independents.
Many analysts believe that a torrent of polls overestimated GOP support ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, contributing to a red mirage.
Other recent polls have echoed similar findings about voter apprehension regarding Biden’s age.
At 80, Biden is already the oldest commander in chief in the nation’s history. Should he win a second term, he’d be 86 by its hypothetical conclusion.
“It doesn’t register with me,” Biden told reporters about his age back in April. “But the only thing I can say is that one of the things that people are going to find out is, they’re going to see a race, and they are going to judge whether or not I have it or don’t have it.”
Misgivings about his age have been turbocharged by various verbal flubs and gaffes.
On Sunday, Biden raised eyebrows during a stop in Hanoi, Vietnam during an international press event to talk about the Group of 20 summit and geopolitical maneuverings in Asia.
“I tell you what, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to go to bed,” Biden joking during a rambling speech and a question about why he hasn’t spoken to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
At one point, his aides appeared to cut him off and end the presser.
“The age factor shouldn’t sour anyone unless they are seeing results that are not up to what their expectations are,” Hickenlooper added, per The Hill. “My point is the results are pretty darn good.”
Vice President Kamala Harris sough to allay concerns about reelection in 2024 during an interview Sunday.
“We will win, we will win reelection. There is too much at stake and the American people know it,” Harris said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
Biden is the overwhelming 2024 Democrat frontrunner with no other major heavyweight contender in the contest.
He is facing a spirited contest from bestselling author Marianne Williamson and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
