For the first time in either his presidency or the 2020 campaign, though, Biden suddenly finds those middle-of-the-road Americans turning against him. And it has driven his approval ratings underwater for the first time.
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in the final days of the Afghanistan withdrawal is the latest to show Biden taking a turn for the unpopular. A majority — 51 percent — of American adults now disapprove of his job performance, while 44 percent approve. That closely echoes an NPR/PBS/Marist College poll also released this week that pegged those numbers at 51 percent and 43 percent, respectively. Until a few days ago, Biden’s average approval rating had never been lower than his disapproval.
The chief culprit appears to be Afghanistan. The Post-ABC poll and others have shown widespread dissatisfaction not with the decision to withdraw — which is widely popular and which the White House has sought to frame the issue around — but with how it was executed. The Post-ABC poll is particularly stark on this count, showing about three-quarters of American adults support the full withdrawal from Afghanistan even now, but just 26 percent support both that and Biden’s execution of it. A majority of Americans (52 percent) say they approve of the withdrawal but not how it was prosecuted.
There are valid questions about the staying power of this issue, but for now it appears to have significantly undercut independents’ approval of Biden. Even if the issue isn’t front-of-mind for voters moving forward, there’s some danger in it for Biden.
The Post-ABC poll shows 36 percent of self-described independents now approve of Biden overall, compared to 57 percent who disapprove — a net of minus-21. In both June and April, more independents approved of him than disapproved, though the splits were relatively even.
This is again very similar to the most recent Marist poll, which showed independents at 36-55. Back in the same March poll, independents approved of Biden 48-40. Today, the number of them “strongly” disapproving of him has risen from 28 percent to 42 percent.
Biden’s worst major issue is clearly Afghanistan. The Post-ABC poll shows independents overwhelmingly disapprove of his handling of it, at 26-65. The Marist poll pegs independent approval of his handling of the withdrawal, specifically, at a striking 22-71 — again, very similar between polls.
There is precedent for Biden’s approval ratings slipping significantly with independents on specific issues. The chief example is the surge on crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. Even back in April, when Biden’s numbers were comparatively good, The Post-ABC poll showed his approval on the border at 32-58. By June, the split was 28-53.
That doesn’t seem to have had as immediate an impact on overall views of Biden. But it’s likely both issues play into his declining overall approval rating. Biden ran as a relatively moderate, steady Democrat who would deliver something of a return to normalcy. What he has increasingly encountered are crises that would test any administration, but put his promises of a more predictable and competent presidency to the test.
The contours of the Afghanistan issue make it unlikely it will be consistently front-of-mind for Americans for many months ahead. But the danger for Biden is in how much it combines with other issues to reinforce the idea that he hasn’t delivered on that central promise.
"middle" - Google News
September 03, 2021 at 11:29PM
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The middle turns on Biden - The Washington Post
"middle" - Google News
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