Biden’s Approval Numbers are Falling Faster than the Autumn Leaves

Autumn is a season of colorful falling leaves, crisp temperatures, and upcoming holidays. While cooler days and nights may be blamed on climate change, and the holidays will be less merry due to supply chain problems, inflation, and vaccine mandate induced worker shortages, President Biden’s approval numbers are falling faster than the yellow and orange leaves still on the trees.

The Mamas and the Papas sang, “All the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray.” This could become the White House theme song these days as they look at Biden’s plummeting approval with nothing but gray skies ahead. According to Rasmussen Reports, only 21% of likely voters strongly approve of Biden’s job performance compared to 48% that strongly disapprove, more than a doubling of the difference between thumbs up and thumbs down.

The approval/disapproval lines have been slowly diverging since Biden assumed office, with the downward trajectory of his approval accelerating since summer. Interestingly, Biden and Trump’s approval numbers are similar for comparable points in their presidency but remember that media coverage of Trump was almost exclusively negative compared to Biden’s fawning news coverage.

Big media doesn’t like the Rasmussen polls, calling them biased. Since President Trump praised Rasmussen, the media reflexively criticizes them, gleeful when Rasmussen showed poor results for Trump. We can look at other polls to see if Rasmussen is an outlier regarding Biden or is reflecting the mood of America.

Real Clear Politics tracked multiple recent polls showing Biden’s approval  anywhere from a tie to minus 16 points in approval versus disapproval, with a polling average of 8.4 points disapprove. The tie poll was from CNN which not surprisingly oversampled Democrats over Republicans by 6 points, 35% versus 29%, and goes out of their way to avoid criticizing Democrats.

Five Thirty Eight noted Biden’s approval was at least 10 points higher than his disapproval for most of his term until late August when the lines crossed. This was likely due to his botched Afghanistan withdrawal, the gathering storms of inflation and sputtering supply chains, and the looming vaccine mandates. Currently Biden is about 5 points underwater according to Five Thirty Eight, a major drop from his halcyon days earlier in the year.

Gallup also has somber news for the Scranton Kid. “Eight months after President Joe Biden's inauguration, his job approval rating has fallen six percentage points to 43%, the lowest of his presidency. For the first time, a majority, 53%, now disapproves of Biden's performance.”

Business Insider agreed, publishing this headline a week ago, “Biden is getting hammered in the polls. Pandemic frustrations and disappointed independent voters are hurting him most.”

An AP-NORC poll piled on to Biden’s woes, “President Joe Biden’s popularity has slumped after a slew of challenges in recent weeks at home and abroad for the leader who pledged to bring the country together and restore competence in government.”

Even the Democrat Party friendly Washington Post bemoaned Biden’s brown leaves and gray skies, “Biden’s polling numbers are even worse than they appear.” By worse, they mean the opinions of independents of whom only 39% approve of his job performance, compared to 52% who disapprove, a 12-point confidence deficit.

Finally, Forbes cited an Ipsos poll concluding, “Biden’s approval rating sinks to lowest level of presidency amid concerns over coronavirus pandemic, poll finds.”

For once, it’s not Trump’s fault. MSNBC, in a rare moment of honest journalism, asserted, “If Biden's approval rating is falling, he's got himself to blame. Biden has been strangely passive in reversing his polling spiral, in contrast to the boldness he first exhibited.”

Biden didn’t begin his presidency in a bold fashion. Instead, he simply reversed or undid everything Trump accomplished. We quickly went from having a reasonably secure southern border, energy independence, a growing economy, and a sound vaccine rollout program to the exact opposite.

What appeared “bold” to cable news cranks was Biden simply playing the opposites game, with the consequences not becoming manifest until summer and fall, as reflected in current polling.

As a sputtering economy is being pulverized under crushing vaccine mandates, rapidly rising inflation, supply chain disruptions ahead of the holidays, an open southern border, a rising China, and a chaotic Middle East, Democrats have no answer other than to double down on tyrannical rules, hoping to tax and spend America out of her upcoming bleak midwinter. Or they can lower expectations by labeling inflation and a broken supply chain as “high class problems.”

Expect polling for Biden and the Democrats to continue falling, like the beautiful red and yellow leaves still clinging to the ever more barren trees.

Brian C Joondeph, MD, is a physician and writer. On Twitter and FreeAtlantis as @retinaldoctor.

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Views expressed in this column are those of the author, not those of Rasmussen Reports. Comments about this content should be directed to the author or syndicate.