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A YEAR OF DEMOCRATIC CONTROL. Tomorrow is the first anniversary of President Joe Biden’s inauguration. You know it’s a special occasion by the fact that Biden will hold an actual press conference — something he almost never does — this afternoon.
But tomorrow also marks another anniversary — the first year of unified Democratic control in Washington. Yes, it is control by the barest of margins. The party has a tiny, five-seat advantage in the House and a nonexistent majority in the 50-50 Senate, with control coming only because Vice President Kamala Harris can break ties. So, it is tenuous control but control nonetheless.
And it has been a disaster for Democrats. Indeed, the party appears to be shrinking as a result of its actions in Washington. A much-discussed Gallup poll this week found that the number of people who identify themselves as Democrats plunged in 2021, even as the number who identify themselves as Republicans grew.
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At the beginning of 2021 — that is, as Joe Biden became president, Nancy Pelosi remained speaker of the House, and Chuck Schumer took over as Senate majority leader — 49% considered themselves Democrats, versus 40% who considered themselves Republicans. That’s a nine-point Democratic advantage. Now, 42% consider themselves Democrats, versus 47% who consider themselves Republicans — a five-point Republican advantage.
That’s a net 14-point swing over just one year — an unprecedented change. In 2021, voters got to see how Democrats would run things in Washington if they controlled both the executive and legislative branches. Overall, those voters did not like what they saw.
The fundamental problem is that Democrats are not focusing on the issues that are most important to the most people. They spent a long time pushing a sprawling spending bill — Build Back Better — that would “transform” many aspects of American life and likely spur inflation, to boot. People were not sure they wanted their lives transformed. Then, when Build Back Better didn’t work, Democrats pivoted to a bill to federalize voting procedures on terms favorable to Democrats, which they call “voting rights.” That doesn’t appear to be working, either.
So, a new CBS News poll asked: Are Biden and Democrats focusing on issues you care a lot about, care a little about, or don’t care about? Thirty-nine percent said don’t care about; 28% said care a little about; and 33% said care a lot about. Add the first two together, and 67% of those surveyed said Biden and his party are not concentrating on the issues most important to them. It’s no wonder that the party is sliding downhill, with many predicting it will lose control of the House and perhaps the Senate, too, this November.
Then there is the president. According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, Joe Biden took office in January 2021 with a 55.5% approval rating and a 36% disapproval rating. Now, he has a 41.8% approval rating and a 52.6% disapproval rating. His rating slipped underwater in August 2021 as he was directing the disastrously mismanaged withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. It has never risen above water since.
Biden’s low approval rating — it is the worst of any president at this point in his term in the last 50 years, with the exception of direct predecessor President Donald Trump — is made up of several parts. That is, voters disapprove of his handling of a number of specific issues.
On Biden’s handling of the economy, the CBS poll found that 38% approve and 62% disapprove. On handling inflation, 30% approve, while 70% disapprove. On handling the issue of crime, 39% approve, while 61% disapprove. On immigration, 36% approve, while 64% disapprove.
Even on the issue of handling the coronavirus pandemic, which had been a Biden strength in his first year, Biden’s approval has fallen from 67% in March 2021 to 49% today. The bottom line is clear: Most people do not approve of the job he is doing.
Meanwhile, Biden has done some weird things, such as his recent speech in Atlanta declaring that anyone who is not with him on “voting rights” is an ally of George Wallace, Bull Connor, and Jefferson Davis. And then there is the question of whether Biden, the nation’s oldest president, who will turn 80 later this year, is physically and intellectually up to the job.
So, one year into Democratic control of House and Senate with a Democratic president, things are not looking so good. Biden might try to deny it — the preferred position of a president sinking in the polls is that he and his administration have not done a good job communicating all the wonderful things they have done. But right now, the news for Biden and his party is bad, and elections are coming in less than 10 months.
For a deeper dive into many of the topics covered in the Daily Memo, please listen to my podcast, The Byron York Show — available on the Ricochet Audio Network and everywhere else podcasts can be found. You can use this link to subscribe.
