Congressional Approval Sinks to 18% as Democrats Sour Further
Megan Brenan, Gallup
Americans' approval rating of the job Congress is doing has fallen to 18%, the lowest point in more than a year, as congressional Democrats' efforts to pass spending and voting rights bills have stalled.
Biden ends first year as president with 'bleak, discouraging' marks from the public
Mark Murray, NBC News
In his inaugural address one year ago, President Joe Biden championed unity, promised a bold governing agenda and prioritized defeating the coronavirus. Now, as Biden begins his second year as president, majorities of Americans give him low marks for uniting the country, being competent and having the ability to handle a crisis, according to results from a new national NBC News poll.
Biden is ending his first year as president with his lowest approval rating yet
Ipsos
According to this week’s Ipsos’ Core Political, President Joe Biden is ending his first year as president with his lowest approval rating yet, and with nearly two-thirds of Americans believing the country is off on the wrong track.
Biden approval rating drops to 43%, lowest of his presidency
Jason Lange, Reuters
President Joe Biden's public approval rating fell to the lowest level of his presidency this week as Americans appeared exhausted by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic toll, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.
Democrats still back Biden, but evidence of unease among moderates
Fred Backus, CBS News
Many moderates are questioning Biden's priorities and effectiveness, more so than his ideology.
Biden approval has sunk most with young Americans and independents
Kabir Khanna, CBS News
While President Biden's rating decline over the past year has been broad-based, spanning both political and demographic lines, it has been especially pronounced among younger people and independents. Both groups have voted decisively Democratic in recent years — their continued frustration or disappointment would make the party's tough path to holding Congress all the more difficult.
Vice President Harris' approval rating tracks with President Biden's
Anthony Salvanto, Jennifer De Pinto & Fred Backus, CBS News
Americans appear to be gauging President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris still very much as a ticket one year into their term: Americans give Vice-President Kamala Harris an approval rating that is the same as Mr. Biden's, at 44%, and their approval ratings track very much the same across various groups, including among Democrats.
Can Biden Turn His Poll Decline Around?
John McLaughlin & Jim McLaughlin, McLaughlin & Associates
Without a major course correction, the political fortunes for the Biden Democrats in November are in grave jeopardy. The results of our just completed national poll of 1,000 likely voters shows that as President Biden’s policies fail, America is in decline, and, with it, the Biden Coalition.
Pandemic Pessimism Grows Amid Omicron Surge
Megan Brenan, Gallup
With the highly transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19 infecting hundreds of thousands of Americans daily, optimism about the trajectory of the pandemic in the U.S. has fallen sharply, and worry about contracting the virus has risen to its highest level in a year.
Abortion Laws More Unsettling to Americans in 2022
Lydia Saad, Gallup
Americans' satisfaction with the nation's abortion laws is at a two-decade low of 24%. At the same time, the percentage saying they are dissatisfied because they think the laws should be less strict -- broadly speaking, a "pro-choice" position on abortion -- is at a new high of 30%. A smaller share of the population, 22%, is dissatisfied because they believe the laws should be stricter.
‘The Lowest Point in My Lifetime’: How 14 Independent Voters Feel About America
Patrick Healy & Adrian J. Rivera, New York Times
In a new Times Opinion focus group, voters who were decisive to President Biden’s victory lay out their biggest concerns — chiefly, inflation.
Biden as a New F.D.R.? Try L.B.J.
Nate Cohn, New York Times [via opiniontoday.com]
The president’s agenda — big progressive change — has placed Democratic priorities over the voters’ desire for practical help on the pandemic and inflation.
Democrats Moved the Filibuster Overton Window
Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic [via opiniontoday.com]
Democrats and civil-rights advocates were devastated when Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema blocked a change in Senate rules and allowed a Republican filibuster to kill crucial voting-rights legislation. But for activists, the long battle over voter protections hasn’t been entirely in vain: It’s fundamentally changed the center of gravity in the Democratic Party to the point where those two holdouts are likely to be the last Democrats ever elected to the Senate who support maintaining the filibuster, at least for voting rights.
How Not to Build a Coalition
Ruy Teixeira, The Liberal Patriot
The left of the Democratic party has a theory of the case on how their actions will build a dominant progressive electoral coalition. In what follows, I will compare five key aspects of this case to actual results in the real world. It’s not a pretty picture.
What the Fate of Joe Biden’s Presidency Hinges On
Matthew Yglesias, New York Times
Generating a feeling of normalcy around American politics and daily life would restore the promise of the Biden presidency.
Biden's all-in on hammering the GOP. But passing the buck is a risky strategy.
Jonathan Allen, NBC News
The president demonstrated the challenge he faces in taking attention away from divisions in his own party and focusing it on external adversaries.
Biden leaves Democrats hanging as midterms burst into full swing
Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN
In three dozen exclusive interviews with CNN, top Democratic politicians, campaign officials and operatives say the White House political operation is heading into the midterms unprepared and unresponsive even to basic requests for help or information.
An anti-Black backlash — with no end in sight
Perry Bacon Jr., Washington Post
Black Americans demonstrated their growing power during the Trump years. Predictably, they're being punished for it now.
Why Trump Is Headed for the Ditch Once Again
Jack Shafer, Politico Magazine
The political gravediggers have prepared Donald Trump’s final resting point so many times you need to take your shoes and socks off to count them. But over the past week, a series of things have transpired that make Trump’s indestructability seem less axiomatic, his dominance over the GOP and his renomination for president less of a sure thing.
Many college Republicans didn’t vote for Trump in 2020. His racist rhetoric may be why.
Pia Deshpande, Zachary Hertz & Brian Schaffner, Monkey Cage
The ‘diploma divide’ appears to run through Republicans as well
Pro-Trump influencers flocked to alternative social networks. Their follower counts stalled soon after.
Jeremy B. Merrill & Drew Harwell, Washington Post
After a short surge following the Jan. 6 riot last year, the number of people following noted right-wing personalities on services such as Telegram has barely grown over the past year, a Washington Post analysis found
The Accelerant of American Extreme Politics: Prophecy Belief
Paul Djupe (Denison U.), Religion in Public
Though there is additional research left to perform, it seems obvious that belief in prophetic religion, which is widespread in American religion, bestows a level of certainty and righteousness that can propel projects forward with no guardrails.
Those least likely to worry about getting covid (Republicans) have been those most likely to get covid
Philip Bump, Washington Post
New polling shows a big gap in covid exposure by party.
How the King of Late Night’s political influence helped turn public opinion against a president
Brian Calfano (U. of Cincinnati) & Lori Han (Chapman U.), LSE USAPP
Assessing the influence of perhaps the most famous American late-night television comedian in history—Johnny Carson—on public opinion about one of the most influential American politicians of the twentieth century—Richard Nixon during Watergate
What’s Happening on the Left Is No Excuse for What’s Happening on the Right
Jonathan Rauch (Brookings Institution) & Peter Wehner (Ethics and Public Policy Center), New York Times
Illiberalism is a problem wherever it rears its head.
An Insider's Take On the Fox-Trump Dynamic
Charlie Cook
One of the more interesting things I’ve read in recent weeks was a close and highly informed look by my old friend John Ellis at the relationships that do or did exist between News Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch, the late Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and former President Trump.
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