Within the last month, President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address, spearheaded the national and international response to Europe’s biggest war since World War II, and made a historic Supreme Court nomination.
Despite the significance of these events — and the opportunities each presented to Biden to bolster his dwindling public support — the president has been unable to improve his political position.
Biden’s approval rating hit a new low this week, according to an NBC News poll that found 55 percent of Americans disapproved of his job performance, while just 40 percent agreed.
The President’s inability to increase his public support is primarily the by-product of two factors.
First, Americans are pessimistic about the current state of the country under Biden’s leadership and feel the Democratic Party has lost touch and is unable to handle major domestic political crises, according to a recent Schoen-Cooperman Research national survey.
The economy — particularly rising commodity and gas prices — remains Biden’s biggest pain point. According to the NBC News poll, his approval rating for the economy is 30 points underwater (63 percent disagree, 33 percent agree).
Second, the inconsistency and inconsistency Biden has often displayed during his handling of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused many Americans to doubt his ability to lead as commander-in-chief amid international crises.
In fact, 7 in 10 Americans express low confidence in Biden’s ability to handle the war, according to the NBC News poll, and a majority disapprove of his handling of foreign policy (51 percent to 42 percent).
Ultimately, Biden’s perceived weaknesses on the economy — the top domestic concern — and the Russian invasion of Ukraine — the top international concern — suggest that Democrats are likely to suffer significant losses in the 2022 midterm elections.
Fortunately, there are a number of effective policies and steps President Biden can take to bolster public support for these two key issues and reduce the likelihood of a Republican uprising in November.
Domestically, economic pessimism over skyrocketing prices is one of the driving forces behind American dissatisfaction with both the state of the nation and President Biden — and if prices continue to rise, Biden’s ratings are likely to continue falling.
Therefore, for both political and practical reasons, President Biden and the Democrats should pursue an all-encompassing energy strategy.
An all-encompassing energy strategy is a bipartisan approach that would help reduce the cost at the pump in the short term. In the long term, it would protect the US from similar supply shortages, strengthen America’s energy independence, and help the country transition to cleaner fuel sources in a responsible and gradual manner.
Last month, moderate Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ) proposed a version of this energy plan that would involve developing existing domestic oil wells, immediately increasing domestic oil production, and working with close allies to reduce America’s oil dependence on bad actors, including Russia, Iran and Venezuela and increasing and maximizing our use of alternative energies such as wind and solar.
By promoting policies like Gottheimer’s—which addresses two very important political issues, rising prices and American energy—Democrats can help protect vulnerable members of their faction from GOP attacks that are changing Democratic politics with rising gas prices in connect.
On Thursday, President Biden announced an unprecedented release of oil from US reserves. While this is a plausible short-term solution, it will by no means solve the problem, and an all-encompassing energy strategy is an essential long-term solution.
In addition to any of the above energy policies, there are other important domestic policy goals Biden can pursue: namely, holding the spending line to ease inflation concerns and seeking a big deal with Republicans on immigration to ease concerns to disperse open borders.
Regardless, to improve public perceptions of his ability to lead on international issues—particularly in light of the war in Ukraine—President Biden must sharpen his rhetoric and combine his anti-Russian rhetoric with appropriate action.
Since the conflict began, President Biden has committed a series of problematic gaffes. Last week he appeared to be calling for Vladimir Putin’s ouster and later implying that the US would send troops to Ukraine – both of which directly contradict his own government’s policies.
In both cases, the White House explained the misstep while affirming that America’s position remained unchanged despite Biden’s comments. While the administration has tried to dismiss these verbal errors as forgivable errors, the American people – and the international community – don’t see it that way.
Gaffes aren’t Biden’s only problem. Often, his rhetoric — namely, his tough talk against Putin and his boasting about global democracy and the importance of supporting Ukraine — does not meet consistent action. This directly undermines Biden’s credibility in the eyes of the American people and in the eyes of the world.
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In word and deed, Biden must prove – to Putin, the American people, and the international community – that US promises are unfounded and that he is prepared to put all options on the table if Putin uses biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons .
Ultimately, unless Biden embraces these strategic shifts in domestic and foreign policy, his ratings will continue to fall and Democrats will almost certainly be overthrown by Republicans in 2022 and beyond.
Douglas E. Schoen is a political advisor who served as an advisor to former President Clinton and Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign. He is the author of The End of Democracy? Russia and China are advancing and America is retreating.”
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