We’ve been covering the cratering of numbers for Joe Biden and we keep wondering where the bottom is. We are seeing it get worse on various measures.
However, a Fox survey shows even more negative numbers about him when it comes down to the economy. And one of the things that is most telling in this survey is how much he’s dropped with Democrats.
The White House has basically been blowing off the horrible inflation numbers but the survey says that nearly nine in ten voters are worried about inflation — 87% are extremely or very concerned. So the White House blowing it off and spinning it as somehow a sign of how successful Biden has been with the economy isn’t working. Americans understand it’s a problem and they see the rise in prices and the empty shelves.
73% of voters — the highest since the height of pandemic in May when everything was closed and people were being thrown out of work — rate the economy negatively — and three times as many are falling behind as getting ahead financially — 39% vs. 14% percent. From 27% in June, the 39% are now behind.
If you’ve been hearing about and/or seeing empty store shelves yourself, it isn’t just you, the survey found. 71% of respondents report empty shelves. 55% reported slower delivery times, and 83% said their grocery cost has risen. Of that last group, 43% say they’ve risen by “a lot.” It’s why Biden earned #EmptyShelvesJoe as a new nickname.
If you’ve been worried about the rising prices at the pump, you’re also not the only one. A massive number — 84% — say that’s a problem for their families, with 50% saying it’s a “major” problem. Virtually everyone — 94% — thought such rising gas prices a problem for the country’s economy including 67% calling it a “major” problem.
It’s why his approval on the economy has dropped by 21 points in the past month, going underwater, at 39-59%.
While we’ve pointed out how a lot of this has come from independents, he’s also taken a big drop among Democrats — 11 points which, in a month and among Democrats, is pretty huge. Among Democrats, his net favorability has dropped a lot from the faithful — it is +68 now vs. +91 in April. That’s a big sign of trouble and it’s going to hurt them come the midterms in enthusiasm.
Biden’s also receiving bad numbers on virtually every other rubric, according to the Fox survey.
His lowest ratings are for immigration (36-42 percent) and security at the border (335-61%). The president is also a poor performer in foreign policy, taxes and national security. [….]
Three-quarters worry about political divisions within the country (76 percent), and they don’t think Biden is helping: more disapprove (56 percent) than approve (41 percent) of the job he’s doing unifying the country.
The only thing where he is barely above water is with the Wuhan coronavirus response — 51-46%.
There’s an old saying from the Clinton days — “It’s the economy, stupid.” And that’s always the bottom line.
It is easy to believe that Democrats are working behind the scenes to improve Joe Biden’s image to Americans with the forthcoming midterm elections. They could try to fix some of these problems. But since many of them are related to Biden’s actions, they’re sort of caught between a rock and a hard place on that one.
