By Dave Andrusko
Photo: Gage Skidmore
Pro-abortion President Joe Biden is, by all accounts, not a popular President even in his own party. Approval ratings are in the tank and they are equally bad when people are asked about his handling of specific issues such as the economy.
Even the Washington Post choses periodically to open their eyes. “Persistent concerns over Biden’s age come amid a series of polls showing he’s neck-and-neck with Trump,” reads a WaPo story written by Toluse Olorunnipa, Meryl Kornfield, and Colby Itkowitz. Here’s their lead:
A growing number of polls are showing voters concerned about President Biden’s age and energy. Democratic lawmakers have hesitated to offer full-throated endorsements of his running mate. Prominent commentators have ruminated on whether he should drop out of the presidential race.
This series of political vulnerabilities — along with House Republicans announcing an impeachment inquiry and the Justice Department indicting Biden’s son on gun charges — is now sending waves of anxiety through parts of the Democratic Party, as some fret about whether the man who helped oust Donald Trump from the White House may not have the vitality, at 80, to successfully prevent a return.
For President Biden, that’s an awful analysis but the next paragraph is even worse:
“He is in a period of his life where passing and death is imminent,” said Sharon Sweda, the leader of the Democratic Party in Lorain County in Ohio, who said she often hears from voters worried about the president’s potential frailty. “We are all on a ticking clock. But when you’re at his age or at Trump’s age, that clock is ticking a little faster, and that’s a concern for voters.”
Yikes. The way these stories are written, however, requires a few paragraphs lamenting nervous Nellies: thing aren’t that bad. “Many Democrats express steadfast support for the president’s running for a second term, and no major figure has risen to challenge him in a primary,” Olorunnipa, Kornfield, and Itkowitz write.
But
But few offered confident assessments that Biden’s stubbornly low approval ratings would rebound before next year, and many conceded that one of the president’s most significant challenges is one he has no control over: his age. Supporters and critics alike suggested that Biden’s prospects may hinge on whether he can find a way to overcome a persistent and growing feeling in the electorate that his advanced age is his defining characteristic. …
Another “but”:
But one House Democrat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer a candid assessment of Biden’s candidacy, said he has heard concerns among fellow members as well as major Democratic donors about whether the president can sustain a grueling campaign and another four years in office.
We wrote about a CBS News poll that came out the day before the WaPo story. If you a Democrat, it was tough sledding. For example, after talking about the relative poor standing at this stage of previous Democrat presidents who rallied to win we read
And those Democrats won’t find any solace in this: today Mr. Biden is down one point, and inside the margin of error, in a match-up with Donald Trump, whom he beat by seven million votes three years ago.
With most voters unsure he’d stay through a second term if he did get one, and their concerns about whether Mr. Biden is healthy enough, it’s all adding uncertainty for an already unsettled public.
And there are numerous questions, for instance, about who is physically healthy enough to serve as President [43% only Trump, 16% only Biden]; mental & cognitive health to serve as President [44% Trump only; 26% Biden only], and so forth.
One other extremely important finding from the CBS News poll: Independents:
It’s long been a misnomer when Independents are conflated with swing voters. In reality most so-called ‘Independents’ say they vote mainly for one party, even though they call themselves independents. Only a relative handful of them—just a third—are truly Independent and vote equally for either party over time. These make a good barometer: Mr. Biden is losing our ‘truly independent” definition today by 20 points. He was almost even with them in their 2020 votes.
More tomorrow.