Biden Disapproval Hits All-Time High As Agenda Faces Major Headwinds: CNBC

President Biden’s disapproval rating hit a new high in December, with 60% of voters disapproving his handling of the economy, 55% on his handling of the pandemic, and 56% disapproving of his overall job as Commander-in-Chief, according to a new CBS/Change poll.

Biden’s disapproval rating sat at 54% in early September, up from 49% in April.

His approval rating currently stands at 44%, down from 46% in September and 51% in April, according to the report, which notes that this is the latest sign of trouble as the Biden admin looks to tackle a wide range of economic and political problems as midterm elections loom. In addition to scrambling to quell fears over inflation, Biden needs to resurrect his Build Back Better legislation, and beef up the country’s public health response as the omicron Covid-19 variant rapidly spreads.

Frustrations over the economy are the main culprit behind Biden’s flagging popularity as nearly every demographic declared it their No. 1 issue.

The economy was the top priority for men and women, every age cohort, Latino and white voters, and those with and without college educations. Black respondents, who named racism their chief priority, said the economy takes second place.

Sixty percent of the survey’s 1,895 respondents said they disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy, marking a six-point decline in approval from September.

On personal economic issues, voters are even more likely to criticize the president. Some 72% disapprove of his handling of the price of everyday goods, while 66% disapprove of his efforts to help their wallets. –CNBC

And as we noted on Sunday, Biden’s 2022 is shaping up to be a political disaster.

For starters, Covid – the virus he vowed to ‘shut down’ the moment he entered office – is out of control. Just weeks ago, he warned the unvaccinated that they face a “winter of severe illness and death.”

Yet the most vaccinated major US cities are setting new records for Covid infections, vaccinated athletes are collapsing across the world, and 2/3 of the Belgian staff at a fully-vaccinated antarctic base have Covid.

Next, Biden and Congressional Democrats will attempt to revive the corpse of their $2 trillion Build Back Better agenda – while still facing opposition from moderate Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Without their buy-in, the best Biden and crew can hope for is to salvage components of it into smaller chunks that the two moderates may or may not agree to.

“To face this many genuine political fires, from a pandemic raging again to major legislation that might be finished, is the worst way to start a new year,” said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.” Just to add to the challenge, the midterm season will get fully underway, and it will be harder to persuade any politician to do something that poses electoral risk.“

The White House will also grapple with supply chain issues and inflation in 2022, after repeatedly insisting it was ‘transitory’ throughout the second half of 2021.

While the president’s party typically loses seats in Congress during a first-term election, present polling about Biden and Democrats suggest they could face a rout in November.

That may be because members of both parties are growing more frustrated with inflation.

Some 84% of those surveyed said the prices they see for everyday goods are higher than they were a year ago, while just 19% report earning more income over the same period. And only 23% say they believe inflation is starting to come down or will begin to decline soon. -CNBC

“In addition to COVID, this is where Biden and his team fumbled the ball,” according to one Democratic strategist. “They denied there was a problem, and then they looked silly when they had to backpedal. They can’t do that kind of thing again. It looks bad.“