Democrats Sound Alarm about Biden's Abysmal Poll Numbers
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – After new polling showed US President Joe Biden behind several Republican 2024 hopefuls, some leading Democratic lawmakers and strategists are raising concerns about the 80-year-old commander-in-chief's viability to win reelection.
Biden has been plagued by concerns about his age and health throughout his tenure in the White House. These worries were exacerbated as the president's approval rating plummeted after the rocky US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 and the decades-high inflation that fueled economic stress across the nation, Newsweek reported.
Polling data released by CNN and SSRS on Thursday spelled even more bad news for Biden, as it showed the Democratic incumbent trailing several Republican candidates in hypothetical head-to-head matchups.
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley lead the president by 6 points, with 49 percent support compared to his 43 percent. Former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina's GOP Senator Tim Scott and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie were all 2 points ahead of Biden, and the president was tied with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Former US president Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner in the Republican field, also was ahead of Biden by 1 point.
The survey, which was carried out from August 25 to 31, included 1,259 registered voters and had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, said that voters are unhappy with Biden as well as Trump.
"I think the people have basically spoken loud and clear," he said in an interview with CNN, adding, "They're not happy with the two choices—and only choices."
Recent polling conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for Newsweek found that a majority of Democrats said they were "concerned" about Biden's ability to perform his job given the fact that he's already the oldest president in US history. Survey results from The Wall Street Journal at the end of August showed that 57 percent of voters disapprove of Biden while only 42 percent approve.
Meanwhile, Biden's defenders tout his record of legislative accomplishments, including several large bipartisan bills regarding infrastructure and guns. They also say that his administration isn't getting adequate credit for the post-COVID economic recovery, blaming much of the inflation on factors outside of the White House's control.
"The great news is that President Biden has a very strong record to run on," Senator Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, told ABC News' This Week on Sunday.
"There's work to be done, stronger messaging, more aggressive campaigning but we're still very, very early," Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, told The Hill.