By Manzanita Miller
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Americans are as reluctant as ever for another four years under President Biden just under two weeks after he officially announced his reelection campaign.
Biden struggles with support from within his own party, with a full 58% of Democrats stating they’d like the Democratic Party to nominate someone other than Biden for the 2024 presidential election.
A mounting share of Democrats are moving toward Democratic primary challengers Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson, with each candidate doubling their support over the past month.
However, it is Biden’s numbers with swing voters that present a particularly bleak picture for his reelection prospects.
Biden currently has a 60% disapproval rating among Independents, a group he won easily in 2020, and a 60% disapproval rating among voters 18-39, another group he won easily then. Biden is also struggling with Democrat leaners, liberals and moderates, with a disapproval rating of 21% among Democrat leaners, 16% among liberals and 49% among moderates.
Biden is also struggling significantly with non-college voters who have been significantly impacted by the federal government’s response to the covid-19 pandemic, and currently sits at a disapproval rating of 63% among non-college voters that rises to 68% among non-college whites. When gender is added to the mix, a full 70% among non-college white men and 66% of non-college white women disapprove of Biden.
President Biden has also been unable to budge his approval rating among non-white voters, with the latest ABC News poll showing he sits at a disapproval rating of 52% with Hispanics and 48% among all non-white voters.
According to the survey, Biden’s age plays a significant role in Americans’ reluctance to support his reelection. A staggering 68% of Americans believe that the president is too old to serve another term. Biden, currently 80 years old, would conclude his term at 86 years old if reelected.
A majority of voters do not harbor the same concerns about Trump, who is 76 years old. Only 44% of voters consider Trump to be too old for the presidency. Beyond just chronological age, Trump surpasses Biden in terms of perceived mental sharpness and physical health. Doubts about Biden’s abilities in both these areas are widely held among the electorate.
These are all signs that both the far left and the moderate center of the Democratic Party are beginning to question Biden’s competence and are driving momentum toward Kennedy and Williamson.
While Biden’s popularity has declined among Democrats and supporters across the board, his falling numbers with Independents, young people, women, and non-college whites, are particularly threatening to his reelection prospects. It comes as no surprise that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and self-help author Marianne Williamson are gaining support from these demographics.
A recent poll conducted by Emerson College shows Kennedy polling at 21%, while Williamson has reached 9%. Kennedy’s performance in this poll is notable, with 17.1% of Democrats and an impressive 33.7% of Independents expressing their support for him.
Just a month ago, Kennedy’s poll numbers stood at 10% and Williamson’s at 4%, as indicated by a Morning Consult poll, suggesting that both challengers have recently doubled their support.
Kennedy performs particularly well among women, voters over the age of 65, and non-college educated Democrats, while Williamson does best with women, younger voters, and college-educated Democrats.
A recent Morning Consult poll reveals that 13% of women, compared to 7% of men, would back Kennedy as a primary challenger. Among voters over the age of 65, 17% express support for Kennedy, while younger age groups hover around 9%. Similarly, 12% of non-college Democrats support Kennedy, compared to 10% of college graduates. These findings suggest that Kennedy has an advantage among working-class and voters.
Biden’s support has also declined substantially among Democratic women compared to men. The share of men who say they would support Biden in the primaries stands at 78%, while only 61% of women express the same sentiment, a nearly twenty-percentage point difference.
When Democratic leaners specifically were asked whether the party should nominate Biden again or someone else, a full 58% said the party should nominate someone else. These numbers were even higher for younger people and Independents who lean Democrat. A full three-quarters (76%) of young Democrat leaners said the party should nominate someone else, as did 64% of non-whites who lean Democrat.
The ABC News poll also shows Trump ahead of Biden by six percentage points in a head-to-head match up, with Trump garnering 44% of the vote to Biden’s 38%. When pitting Biden against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, DeSantis led Biden by five percentage points, 42% to 37%.
When it comes to public opinion, the outlook for Biden is bleak. His approval rating sits at just 36%, with a full 56% disapproval rating, including a substantial 47% strongly disapproving. A wide majority of Americans said they think Biden lacks the physical health and mental acuity to serve as president.
Trump did much better in the poll, with 64% of voters saying Trump is physically fit enough to serve as president, and 54% saying he is mentally stable enough to do so.
The same poll showed Americans say 54% to 36% that former President Trump would do a better job of handling the economy than President Biden, with wide agreement among Independent and Democratic leaning groups. Over half (54%) of Independents said Trump would do a better job of handling the economy than Biden, and 18% of democratic Leaners agreed. Young people said by an almost two-to-one margin that former President Trump would be a better steward of the economy (57% to 28%), and Hispanics agreed Trump would be better at handling the economy 54% to 36%.
Americans are in broad agreement that President Biden is not only unfit to handle his job as president, but his health and age are serious concerns for the next six years. Democrats, Democratic-leaners, and swing voters including young people and Independents are increasingly in agreement that the party should nominate someone other than Biden for 2024. What is more, Trump’s approval rating and the share of Americans who believe he should run for president has accelerated rapidly since Biden officially announced his reelection. President Biden did not enjoy a bump in the polls after his reelection announcement, and if anything is losing ground to his challenges R.F.K. and Marianne Williamson.
Manzanita Miller is an associate analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
