Biden’s economic approval rating falls to new low on fear about inflation, CNBC survey finds

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President Joe Biden’s overall and economic approval numbers have reached the lowest levels of his presidency and fallen further than that of either of his two predecessors, according to the latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey.

With Americans feeling crushed beneath the weight of rising prices, Biden’s economic approval dropped 5 points from the prior survey in April to just 30%. The president’s economic record is supported by just 6% of Republicans, 25% of independents and 58% of Democrats, a very low number for his own party. …

The president’s dismal numbers come amid the worst economic outlook measures CNBC has recorded in the 15-year history of the survey. CONTINUED

Steve Liesman, CNBC

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I Work for Midwestern Democrats, and I Know How to Win Back Voters From the G.O.P.

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Democrats continue to bleed support from working-class voters of all races. Many are abandoning the party for the Republicans because they think Democrats are not committed enough to fighting for their livelihood and way of life.

To win these voters back, Democrats have got to do more to demonstrate that we are putting American workers first, starting with taking on outsourcing and bad trade deals. …

I live in Chicago and work for Midwestern Democratic politicians whose states have been hit hard by outsourcing, and I have seen Democrats win over swing voters with a powerful call to bring jobs back to America and invest in domestic manufacturing. CONTINUED

Brian Stryker (Impact Research), New York Times

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CNN Poll: Most Americans are discontented with Biden, the economy and the state of the country

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The summer of 2022 is a season of deepening and widespread discontent, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. The survey finds the public’s outlook on the state of the country the worst it’s been since 2009, while its view on the economy is the worst since 2011. And nearly 7 in 10 say President Joe Biden hasn’t paid enough attention to the nation’s most pressing problems.

Biden’s approval rating in the poll stands at 38%, with 62% disapproving. His approval ratings for handling the economy (30%) and inflation (25%) are notably lower. Rising costs are a primary economic pressure for most Americans: 75% call inflation and the cost of living the most important economic problem facing their family. Last summer, that figure stood at 43%. CONTINUED

Jennifer Agiesta, CNN

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Media Confidence Ratings at Record Lows

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Americans’ confidence in two facets of the news media — newspapers and television news — has fallen to all-time low points. Just 16% of U.S. adults now say they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in newspapers and 11% in television news. Both readings are down five percentage points since last year. …

Multiple Gallup measures of Americans’ views of the news media show a growing distrust. Last fall, Gallup found near-record-low trust in the media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly, and few Americans rated newspaper and television reporters as highly ethical in Gallup’s annual honesty and ethics of professions poll in December. CONTINUED

Megan Brenan, Gallup

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Confused about 2022? You should be

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I’ve seen more than a few election cycles, but I’m not certain I have seen many that are more confusing than the one we are now in.

Which “rules” of handicapping still hold in the current environment, and which fell by the wayside as our parties changed, our political institutions crumbled, and our political leaders looked increasingly incapable of governing? …

It has been relatively easy to handicap individual races and entire election cycles when nothing out of the ordinary happens. In those cases, the old rules still apply. But it’s more difficult to sketch out the trajectory of an election when outlandish events occur — and outlandish events seem to have occurred each day since Donald Trump announced he was running for president in 2016. CONTINUED

Stuart Rothenberg, Roll Call

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People in Republican Counties Have Higher Death Rates Than Those in Democratic Counties

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the link between politics and health became glaringly obvious. Democrat-leaning “blue” states were more likely to enact mask requirements and vaccine and social distancing mandates. Republican-leaning “red” states were much more resistant to health measures. The consequences of those differences emerged by the end of 2020, when rates of hospitalization and death from COVID rose in conservative counties and dropped in liberal ones. …

But COVID is only the latest chapter in the story of politics and health. “COVID has really magnified what had already been brewing in American society, which was that, based on where you lived, your risk of death was much different,” says Haider J. Warraich, a physician and researcher at the VA Boston Healthcare System and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. CONTINUED

Lydia Denworth, Scientific American

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