Leaving aside apparent evidence of political corruption and cognitive decline, President Joe Biden appears to have a more fundamental hurdle to clear in his bid to secure a second term in the White House.
When referencing the most important aspect of the 1992 presidential election, Democratic operative James Carville coined a succinct phrase: “It’s the economy, stupid.”
As the 2024 election approaches, Americans are arguably more concerned about the state of the nation’s economy — and a recent CNN poll reveals that voters are not confident in Biden’s ability to handle it.
Not only did more than half of those surveyed say they believe the economy is on a downward trajectory, but congressional Republicans were identified as considerably more trustworthy than the Biden administration — 54% to 45% — when it comes to addressing economic issues.
When asked for their take on Biden’s economic record, respondents gave him worse marks than his lackluster 40% general approval rating. A mere 30% approved of his response to inflation and just 37% gave positive marks to his overall economic policy.
CNN analyst Harry Enten put the results in perspective.
CNN POLL: "More people actually trust congressional Republicans than President Biden on the most important issues of the day." pic.twitter.com/GbwgkL4r6P
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 3, 2023
“This to me is a very worrying sign for the president going into the presidential election year because the fact is if he’s doing this poorly against congressional Republicans, imagine how he might do against a presidential candidate,” he said.
CNN is not the only mainstream media outlet to report poll results that could spell trouble for Biden’s re-election campaign team.
CBS News conducted its own survey in which 70% of respondents said that their income has failed to keep pace with rising costs and roughly two-thirds described the nation’s economy as bad.
More than one-third of those polled said their financial situation was getting worse, compared to a paltry 13% who reported that they were gaining ground.
Perhaps sensing the president’s vulnerability on the issue, the White House has been issuing statements touting “Bidenomics” as a net benefit for the American people. Of course, the recent downgrade of America’s long-term credit rating could make that argument even harder to make.
Despite a stabilization of consumer prices over the past few months, increasing gas prices remain a daily reminder that Bidenflation, not Bidenomics, will influence how many Americans vote next year.
