Biden at year one: Not enough focus on inflation leaves many frustrated

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On one level, the story of President Biden’s first year is a simple one: Americans feel worse about the pandemic and economy than they did earlier in his term, and his ratings have suffered for it. On another level, it’s a little more nuanced: they do not exclusively blame his policies, but they do demand more attention to inflation just the same; there are many reasons the pandemic is seen as bad, but confusing information stands out as a factor that is hurting views of his handling of it. …

“Focus” is a running theme in this story. Majorities say he isn’t paying enough attention to either the economy or inflation — together, their top issues — not just that he isn’t handling them well. Few think Mr. Biden and his fellow Democrats are focused on the right things overall, either. CONTINUED

CBS News

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Biden’s bad week and the unreality of great expectations

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The bad news keeps on coming for President Biden. He ended 2021 at a low point in his presidency, hoping to turn it around in the new year.

But things have only gotten worse. His spending and voting rights plans are at congressional dead ends. Inflation remains at multi-decade highs. The omicron variant of the coronavirus continues a rapid spread. The Supreme Court ruled against his administration’s vaccine-or-test mandate. And there are rising threats from Russia and North Korea.

Presidents need to be able to do multiple things at once, but that’s a lot weighing down Biden. And his approval rating is suffering because of it. Biden’s average approval rating sits at about 42%, and a Quinnipiac poll this week had it at 33%. Numbers like that have to have the White House concerned — and Republicans cheering. CONTINUED

Domenico Montanaro, NPR News

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As Biden ends his first year amid many challenges, is there a second act ahead?

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Nearing the first anniversary of his swearing-in, President Biden has suffered through arguably the worst week of his presidency. Whether he has a strategy for a course correction is the question on the minds of nervous Democrats looking ahead to the November elections.

Biden’s road ahead looks as challenging as it did when he took the oath of office a year ago, though for different reasons. …

Today, Biden is dealing with challenges that have much to do with how he tried to govern in his first year, problems compounded by resistance from Republicans and his predecessor’s ongoing efforts to undermine faith in democratic processes. He also begins the year with far less popular support than a year ago. Despite some successes, his approval ratings remain in perilous political territory. How he responds will be critical. CONTINUED

Dan Balz, Washington Post

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America’s retreat: Over half believe that the end of the virus is more than a year away or is never happening

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As the nation faces a staggering COVID surge, we’ve seen an abrupt retrenchment from daily life. For the first time since last spring, a majority report social distancing, while the perceived risk of spending time in person with friends and family, visiting retail stores, or eating out has returned to levels last seen in January and February of 2021.

This comes as COVID cases rise – among the vaccinated and unvaccinated – and public health officials warn that the Omicron variant is likely to reach “just about everybody.” The public is aware of the risks: The latest wave of the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index finds that many think they’re now either more at risk or about as likely to catch the virus than they were at the start of the pandemic. CONTINUED

Clifford Young & Catherine Morris, Ipsos

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Americans’ Views of Race Issues Including Critical Race Theory, Systemic Racism and Reparations

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As the U.S. enters the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, new results from a national University of Massachusetts Amherst Poll shed light on Americans’ racial views and their attitudes toward critical race theory.

The poll found that over half of Americans (53%) believe that white people in the U.S. have certain advantages because of the color of their skin, and 7 in 10 (69%) say they are angry that racism exists. The number of Republicans agreeing with these views falls significantly below these overall numbers, however, as only 1 in 5 (19%) say whites enjoy certain advantages due to their race and only slightly more than half (56%) express anger about racism’s existence. CONTINUED

University of Massachusetts Amherst

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U.S. Life Ratings Retreat to Close Out 2021

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The percentage of Americans who evaluate their lives well enough to be considered “thriving” on Gallup’s Life Evaluation Index was 55.1% in November-December, down 4.1 percentage points from the 14-year high of 59.2% measured in June. …

The movement in Americans’ life ratings over the past two years appears to be tied to the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, with optimism peaking in June when cases were low after vaccinations became widely available in the U.S. The summer surge in cases, and subsequent surges this winter, provide clear evidence that the hopes in early 2021 of the pandemic reaching an end were premature. CONTINUED

Dan Witters & Sangeeta Agrawal, Gallup

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