“Green Lanternism” holding down Biden’s approval ratings

· Leave a Comment

Only 38 percent of Americans approve of the job Joe Biden is doing as President, and the latest survey results from the FDU Poll show that this is largely due to the belief that Presidents have a lot of influence over things that they actually have very little control over. Political scientists refer to the belief that Presidents could do more if they just tried as “Green Lanternism,” referring to the DC Comics superhero whose power is limited only by his willpower, and it has become a major obstacle for Biden and Democrats going toward the 2022 midterm elections.

In the survey, Americans were asked to choose between two statements: that the President could get a lot more done if he really tried, or that the President is constrained by factors like the composition of Congress and the Courts. Americans were almost evenly split on the options, with 45 percent saying that the President is limited, and 47 percent saying that he could do more if he tried. CONTINUED

Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll

The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack

The Kinds of Seats that Flip in Midterms

· Leave a Comment

Key Points
• While increasingly salient issues like abortion could change the political environment, Republicans still appear on track for a strong showing in the U.S. House.
• Recent midterms have hollowed out the presidential party’s holdings of districts where the president either did the same or worse than he did nationally — or only a little better.
• Republicans likely will have trouble winning districts where Joe Biden won more than 55% of the vote, but that still leaves them dozens of Democratic-held targets below that mark as redistricting is finalized. CONTINUED

Kyle Kondik, Sabato’s Crystal Ball

The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack

Ipsos Core Political: 42% job approval for Biden vs. 56% this time last year

· Leave a Comment

This week’s Ipsos’ Core Political illustrates the decreased support President Joe Biden has seen over the past year as Americans’ concern over the economy increases and their approval of the way Biden has been handling it decreases. Today, 42% of Americans approve of President Biden’s performance in office, compared to 56% this time last year. …

Three in five (62%) Americans believe things in this country are off on the wrong track, including 88% of Republicans, 58% of independents, and 41% of Democrats. CONTINUED

Ipsos

The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack

Biden talks inflation: Another swing and a miss

· Leave a Comment

What little credibility President Joe Biden still enjoys with the electorate took another hit Tuesday with a so-called inflation speech so full of misstatements and misinformation it is hard to know where to begin. …

Biden’s “inflation” speech was mostly a rehash of a series of speeches filled with misstatements that he has delivered in a failed attempt to convince voters that the economy is actually doing much better. Yes, inflation is a problem, but not to worry, he’s got a plan to fix it, if only the “ultra MAGA Republicans” would get out of the way.

Has he won them over? In a word, no.

In the most recent Winning the Issues survey (April 26-28), the president’s job approval on his handling of inflation was at minus 22 (with 34 percent approving and 56 percent disapproving). Digging deeper into voters’ views, the survey found Biden and Democrats are clearly losing the messaging battle on inflation. CONTINUED

David Winston (Winston Group), Roll Call

The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack

The Democrats’ Midterm Identity Crisis

· Leave a Comment

President Joe Biden arrived in office with a throwback theory of how to expand his party’s support. He sought to focus his presidency on delivering kitchen-table benefits to low- and middle-income families—for example, with stimulus checks and an expansive child tax credit—while downplaying his involvement in high-profile cultural disputes and emphasizing bipartisanship. …

But nearly 16 months into his presidency, Biden’s plan has been battered on both ends. Republicans in Washington, D.C., have dashed his hopes of cooperation (apart from a deal on a bipartisan infrastructure package), and his desire to de-emphasize the culture wars has been undermined by a red-state blitzkrieg on social issues and the draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade that exploded into public view last week. Simultaneously, opposition from Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona—combined with moments of intransigence from the party’s left—have blocked Biden from delivering the full suite of material benefits he hoped would move more working-class families, of all races, back toward the Democrats. CONTINUED

Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic

The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack

57% of Americans say masks should be required on airplanes and public transportation

· Leave a Comment

A majority of U.S. adults (57%) say travelers on airplanes and public transportation should be required to wear masks, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. A smaller share (42%) say travelers should not be required to wear masks in these situations. …

A large majority of Democrats and independents who lean to the Democratic Party (80%) say travelers on airplanes and public transportation should be required to wear masks. By contrast, 71% of Republicans and Republican leaners say travelers should not be required to wear masks. CONTINUED

Alec Tyson, Pew Research Center

The OPINION TODAY email newsletter is a concise daily rundown of significant new poll results and insightful analysis. It’s FREE. Sign up here: opiniontoday.substack