Even GOP insiders are shocked by how far and fast President Biden’s approval has fallen. Of course, with the mid-term elections a year away, they are thrilled to see that 55% of registered Democrats disapprove of how “their” president managed the Afghanistan withdrawal (source: Pew Research). Biden is living proof Americans (even liberals) expect presidents to do the right thing AND do it the right way – pleasing allies and citizens alike.
Two modern presidents exemplify this achievement. In 1963, Jack Kennedy’s approval rose to 70% after rightly deciding Cuba could not host Russian nuclear missiles AND rightly choosing a naval blockade, negotiating a secret quid pro quo (US missiles out of Turkey), and avoiding nuclear war. In 1990, George Herbert Walker Bush’s approval soared to 92% after rightly deciding Iraq could not occupy Kuwait’s oil fields AND rightly not occupying a defeated Muslim nation.
In contrast, Joe Biden manages “good” issues with “bad” solutions, proving himself a man of limited ability, a post-peak politician, and a figment of centrist imaginations. The center-left cut deals during South Carolina’s primary to avoid running a socialist against Trump. The center-right split their ballots to prove they were innocent of extremism. We now have a president betraying campaign promises at an alarming rate.
He promised “to end wars in Afghanistan.” 70% of America supported the exit (source: Chicago Council Survey). Biden’s failure was a “bad” withdrawal. He hurt himself by blaming Trump, because White House “leaks” lay 100% of the failure on Biden: removing troops before citizens, not coordinating with NATO allies, denying air support to the Afghan army, leaving advanced weaponry behind, and urging the Afghan president to tout the Biden Plan. Now, 61% of America faults his withdrawal, including a whopping 71% of independents.
Biden claimed he was “going to reverse family separation policies” at DHS and ICE. 64% of women voters liked this idea (source: UT/TT poll). Now, some think his promise invited the border crisis, and many think he guaranteed it with executive orders that reversed Trump’s demonstrably effective policies. Fact: May 2020 border arrests were 17,106 (right before Biden was THE nominee) and 208,887 in August (6 months into his presidency).
He claimed Trump was never “going to work with allies.” 67% of America wants Biden to work with the EU and NATO (source: Economist/YouGov) and the GOP was silent when Biden crowed, “America is back at the table” at a meeting of G7 leaders. Then, Biden didn’t share his Afghanistan plan with the UK, take Boris Johnson’s phone call, or tell Philip Macron about AUKUS (nuclear submarine deal). After killing France’s Australian submarine deal, Biden saw France recall its US ambassador for the first time ever. Competent? Not even close!
The Biden campaign said he was “going to beat this virus.” 81% of voters said COVID was issue #1 before the election (source: Economist/ YouGov). Biden was OK early: only 3% of voters said the pandemic was getting worse in June, but now 68% say it’s getting worse. He lost Trump voters by taking credit for the vaccines, and truly erred by pausing J&J’s vaccine in April. He blundered in July, declaring victory: “the virus no longer controls our lives [or] paralyzes our nation.”
After his mixed messages (“wear masks to protect the vaccinated”), the New York Times quoted White House “leaks” about Biden ignoring advice, forcing “top-down decisions,” stalling vaccinations, and declaring “victory” right when the Delta variant hit. New cases of COVID were 3,180 on July 6th and 333,357 on September 17th (source: CDC). Biden is president because of independent voters: their approval of his handling of COVID has dropped 28 points to 44% today (source: CNBC).
He did promise “to get bipartisan cooperation on the economy.” 68% of voters support the bipartisan infrastructure bill (source: Harvard CAPS Harris). This was an easy promise to keep, but Biden lost Republicans with a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package that hurt businesses by paying workers to stay home. Now, facing shutdowns and credit defaults, he wants GOP leaders to whip up votes for short-term funding and a higher debt ceiling.
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) knows a mid-term campaign issue when he sees one: a bipartisan infrastructure bill was held hostage to socialist programs worth $3.5 trillion. Monday, McConnell snarked: “One party controls the entire government. They have every tool to address the debt limit: the same party-line process they used to ram through inflationary spending in March.” Now, swing-state Democrats must defend a “party-line process” and “inflationary spending.” See ya!
Biden’s campaign promises (over 100) mostly targeted Sanders socialists. However, he won by bombarding voters in swing states with the reasonable pledges cited above. By appearing more “reasonable” and “competent” than Trump, Biden tricked 54% of college-educated whites to vote for him (source: Pew Research). Now, this group’s approval drops with every failed plan and lurch left, forcing his poll numbers to fall further and faster than any president – ever!
It’s called “buyer’s remorse” because Biden has not met expectations. It is why Gallup now reports his overall approval at 43% and centrist support down 25 points to just 37%. It’s why he’s now “under water” in all ten battleground states: AZ, CO, GA, MI, MN, NM, NV, PA, VA and WI (source: Civiqs). Neuro-marketers know buyers HATE their “least risky” choice turning into a mistake. Biden’s like that faddish hat that provoked sniggles. You wish you’d never bought it. You’ll never wear it again. You get mad just thinking of it.
