Biden's approval polls improve when he goes on the attack. Why?
It appears /Biden's strategy to just tout his positive accomplishments and avoid attacking the GOP has developed a pattern. His approval ratings hover around the high 30s or border 40% when he accentuates the positive and eliminates the negative attacks on the GOP. Still, when he calls out MAGA as extremists who are a danger to democracy, his polls tick up among Democrats. Most of these pollsters attribute to the day-to-day fluctuations in the economy and Biden's touting legislative victories. The question is whether his victories have not been reversed, but his polls still fluctuate, down today, especially among Democrats. The greatest impact favoring Democrats still is the overturn of Roe v Wade and the revolt of women swing voters and that is an offset for the GOP winning the inflation issue..
There are also more subtle factors at work, his age and the degree of his vigor or lack of it that does not show up given the questions posed by pollsters that focus more on public policy issues. It may be better measured when pollsters ask Democrats whether Biden should run in 2024. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-25/ most-democrats-say-ditch-biden-as-2024-nominee-post-abc-poll
In September, Biden then hit the stump with his newest pitch that just says little about inflation, but instead, he asked voters to weigh that against the issue of abortion and subversion of democracy. He then pointed to legislation he got passed despite 100% GOP votes in Congress against it to help some specific groups cope. Calling these "an inflation reduction act" was a stretch to be felt past the midterm election to be believed, and deceptive at worst. The only positive was gas at the pump dropped some, but inflation ticked up a smidgen. He famously said, "don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative," as his case for voting Democrat in November. His approval ratings dropped back to 39%. There is nothing wrong with side bide side comparisons of public policy, but it misses an essential element: attacking the GOP for their lack of alternatives and making the pain to those on a budget continue to hurt.
Why does Biden's approval rating fluctuate between 35% and 46% https://a pnews.com/article/biden-approval-rating-poll-bf41fe8b0016bf8aaf144e7310c6539f I have a theory. By avoiding going on the attack, he looks like a weak old man, but on August 25 he showed some guts to attack MAGA as extremists endangering democracy. He looked stronger and more macho and Democrats gave him a bump to 46% approval, and down again today after he downplayed the name calling. The economy has not fluctuated or improved much at all.
A new poll out showed that there is a yearning for a strong leader:A third of Americans prefer a strong, unelected leader to a weak, elected one | Ipsos There is a lot in this poll that should curl the hair of devotees of traditional liberal democracy and it reflects the blah attitudes of independents on Biden's legislative accomplishments. However, the preference for a strong leader reaches across the partisan divide and includes many Democrats as well. That may explain the appeal of a Trump demagogue, the weakening support of democracy, and the appeal of an autocrat. The Biden strategy may have been driven by the belief that Biden's hands-off attack approach would appeal to the independents and never Trumper Republicans, the vital swing vote. It is not working. (What is working is the women's backlash to the Court's upending Roe v Wade). These voters are looking for a stronger leader, too. This was no "lib" fantasy, but macho vigor counts too. From the Ipsos poll followed by a link to my blog posting on how Biden could go on the attack on inflation.
No comments:
Post a Comment