Democrats are concerned about Biden’s poll ratings, which show him with a 40% approval rating in a recent NBC poll.
Mr. President, I wish you a happy 81st birthday. (I always remember Biden’s birthday because it’s the same as one of my children’s.)
He didn’t have a large party yesterday unless you consider pardoning turkeys a lot of fun, which he doesn’t, for obvious reasons.
Nonetheless, many news sources took the peg for Biden’s too-old stories, and NBC didn’t give Biden much of a birthday present, with a survey showing him with his lowest support rating of 40%.
According to Politico, Biden’s deputy campaign manager advised donors to highlight his historic achievements in response to questions about how to handle the situation. This approach “was well-received by those who see his age as a mark of his deep experience – and met with disagreement by others, who fear not enough is being done to remind voters that former President Donald Trump is just three-and-a-half years younger.”
“Some acknowledge that the president can appear frail at times, but even close allies believe that Biden is mentally up for the job,”You consider?
Some desire more jokes about Grandpa Joe; yesterday, Biden remarked, “It’s difficult turning sixty.”
“It’s a problem that everyone recognizes, and we need to solve it,” former chief of staff Ron Klain is cited as saying. “It gives him more wisdom and experience, how he’s navigated this difficult problem in Ukraine,” the White House ought to stress.
About war, the NBC study found that 70% of Democrats disapprove of Biden’s handling of Israel’s deadly confrontation with Hamas. This indicates a growing rift within the Democratic Party, particularly among its younger members. The president’s approval rating among adults aged 18 to 34 has decreased to 31%.
Overall Democratic voters are divided: 27% think Israel’s war actions are justifiable, while 51% think Israel has gone too far.
By any objective standard, Biden has done an excellent job of striking a balance between advocating for restraint as the death toll in Gaza rises and providing unwavering support, as evidenced by his visit to Israel following Hamas’s brutal attack. However, if you see Israel as an oppressive terrorist state, you will also have a negative opinion of the president’s role.
And the bitter cherry on top is that in their 2024 meeting, Trump defeated Biden by a margin of 2 points.
Even an accompanying Politico article discusses how Democrats are handling the bad news, partially by arguing that he was undervalued in 2020.
Now notice the difference between yesterday’s Washington Post and the New York Times, both alerting readers to the potential risks of Trump’s second term.
“Never before has a president drawn as many public critics from his inner circle as he did. They are keeping a careful eye on his ascent, which has them worried. He dominated the GOP primary and is currently tied or even ahead of President Biden in most polls heading into the general election. His former vice president, senior military advisors, attorneys, a few members of his Cabinet, economic advisors, press representatives, and campaign assistants—some of whom are employed by rival politicians—are among them.”
The story is accurate, and most of the facts are well known, but the retelling argues that not all criticism comes from rival politicians. In exchange for guilty pleas and minimal jail time, some, like former Trump attorneys Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, disparage their former employer.
Retired general John Kelly, Trump’s second chief of staff has maybe the most insightful commentary:
“I didn’t have a half-day bounce when I went out and told people the horrible things he said about injured warriors. Bill Barr, his attorney general, appeared, and it didn’t take him half a day to recover. In fact, his numbers rise. It could even cause the needle to travel in the incorrect direction. I believe that the United States is in a hazardous place.”
“These media whores are always looking for their next grift — whether it’s book deals or cable news contracts — because they know their entire worth as human beings revolve(sic) around talking about President Trump,” said the former president’s spokesperson Steven Cheung in a response that is unmistakably Trumpian.
One thing is certain: Biden’s age will always be a problem, regardless of how the campaign develops or how Trump’s criminal cases play out. At the very least, he will not turn another birthday before the next election.
