By Manzanita Miller
A giant new poll delving deep into the public’s views on President Biden, Former President Trump, the U.S. economy and their own economic situation reveals a people deeply unhappy with the direction of the country under President Biden.
First, the latest CBS News/YouGov poll shows Trump beating Biden by one point 50% to 49%. While that’s well within the margin of error, other recent polls have shown Trump beating Biden by as many as six percentage points in the past three weeks. Whatever the metric, Trump is polling significantly better now than he was at any time in 2020, and that has Democrats worried.
What is interesting is not only how close the two are in national polls, but the fact that the public is craving a maverick-type president with an unpredictable leadership style to right the country. Americans largely say the country needs a “tough” leader, from amongst nine personality traits including “calm”, “caring “and “no nonsense.” The largest share of the public (67%) say America needs a “tough” president, and a much smaller share (only 22%) say the country needs a “predictable” president.
Unfortunately for Biden, Americans say that he is not a tough president by a margin of 73% to 27%, and they say he is too predictable by a margin of 61% to 39%. Trump, on the other hand, is seen as a tough leader by a margin of 67% to 33%, and he is seen as highly unpredictable, with Americans saying he is not predictable 65% to 35%.
While polls can be deceiving, these personality characteristics are hard to ignore, as is the public’s increasing dissatisfaction with the direction of the country under Biden’s directives.
Americans view of the direction of the country overall is increasingly bleak. By a margin of 37% to 6% Americans say the country is doing “very badly”. An additional 32% say the country is doing “somewhat badly” and 24% say the country is doing “somewhat well”. This translates into a negative view of the country by a margin of 70% to 30%.
Alarmingly for Biden, three key groups he cannot afford to lose ground with feel the country is doing worse under his Administration than before. A full 73% of women (a greater share than the 67% of men) say the country is doing badly while only 27% say the county is doing well. This is crushing for Biden, who won the female vote by 15 percentage points in 2020 but is now polling well below that in several polls with women.
Independents are another group who strongly feel the country is on the wrong track. Independents say 56% to 24% the country is doing badly. Hispanics, another group Biden won by double digits in 2020 but has been slipping with in polls due largely to economic issues, say the country is doing badly by a margin of 66% 34%.
The poll blatantly asked Americans whether they are better off now financially than they were three years ago, a not-so-subtle gauge of how voters view the Biden economy, and the results are bleak for the president. By over a two to one margin (45% to 20%) Americans say they are worse off financially now than they were three years ago. Americans also say by margin of 36% to 26% that there are fewer good jobs in their area compared to three years ago.
The public is also worried about Biden’s ability to make it through a second term, and just 34% believe he will do so if he is reelected. The poll demonstrates Americans are most concerned about Biden’s physical health when it comes to the demanding job of president, but a sizeable share is also concerned about his cognitive abilities.
When asked whether Trump, Biden, both, or neither are “physically healthy” enough to take on the job of president, only 16% said only Biden is healthy enough, compared to 43% who said only Trump is healthy enough. Twelve percent of Americans say both of them are healthy enough and 29% say neither are healthy enough for the role.
Biden fairs slightly better on mental health than he does on physical health, but barely more than a quarter of Americans (26%), say that Biden and not Trump has the mental fortitude to serve as President. Forty-four percent of Americans say Trump and not Biden has the mental fortitude to serve as president. Seven percent of Americans say both Trump and Biden have the mental fortitude and 23% say neither of them do.
While the election is still over a year away, recent polling has demonstrated the deeply negative view of the Biden administration among the public over the past three years. Economic issues continue to drive down Biden’s polling numbers with swing voters including women and Hispanics, and the public is blatantly demanding a tougher and more unpredictable leadership-style, marks Biden does very poorly on.
Manzanita Miller is an associate analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
