With President Joe Biden facing a Democratic challenger in Rep. Dean Phillips, a new poll found his approval rating among Democrats has fallen 11 points in one month and is at the lowest point of his presidency.
While 75 percent of Democrats still approved of the 80-year-old Biden, that number stood at 86 percent in September’s Gallup poll.
Gallup’s numbers for Octoberreleased Thursday showed Biden also losing ground among independents, falling from 39 percent approval in September to 35 percent this month.
His overall approval rating for the month was 37 percent, down from 41 percent in September and an average of 40 percent over the past quarter.
That means his average quarterly approval rating at this point in his presidency is lower than that of all but one post-World War II president. He beats only Jimmy Carter, who had an average approval rating of 31.4 percent.
President Joe Biden (left) faces a Democratic primary challenger in Rep. Dean Phillips (right), as his approval rating among Democrats drops 11 points to the lowest in his presidency
While 75 percent of Democrats still approve of the job Biden is doing, that number was 86 percent a month ago. Biden has also lost some support among independents
Former President Donald Trump, who was also plagued by low approval ratings during his four years in office, fared slightly better than Biden — with an average of 40.7 percent.
Both Carter and Trump lost their re-election bids.
Carter attracted a Democratic primary opponent, Senator Ted Kennedy, whom he fended off but lost to Republican President Ronald Reagan the following year.
Trump lost the 2020 race to Biden after mishandling the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Democratic President Barack Obama averaged a 41 percent approval rating at this point in his administration and won reelection the following year against current Senator Mitt Romney.
It is Obama’s numbers that Biden’s allies point to when Democratic fears are expressed.
“This is exactly where we were at this stage of the election cycle,” said Jim Messina, Obama’s 2012 campaign manager. told The Atlantic in a story released Friday about Phillips’ main challenge. Messina pointed to the November 6, 2011, cover of The New York Times Magazine, which read, “So, is Obama toast?”
Since World War II, Biden has the lowest approval ratings of any president this quarter, aside from Democrat Jimmy Carter, who lost his 1980 re-election bid.
Rep. Dean Phillips makes it official and gets his name on the New Hampshire primary ballot. Biden’s low poll numbers forced Phillips to put his hat in the ring
“If there were real concerns, there would be real politicians running,” Messina said. “I’d never heard of Dean Phillips until a few weeks ago.”
Phillips, a three-term congressman from Minnesota, launched a bid Thursday evening and filed Friday morning for New Hampshire’s Democratic primary in Concord after months of trying to push more mainstream Gen-X Democrats into the race.
The president’s poll numbers in particular inspired Philips, 54, to enter the race This is evident from the study by The Wall Street Journal at the end of August that said 73 percent of registered voters thought Biden was too old.
And then another poll by CNN from late SeptemberAccording to The Atlantic, 67 percent of Democratic voters wanted someone other than Biden on the ballot in 2024.
Gallup polls showed that Democrats’ current rating of Biden is four points lower than the lowest rating of Trump by Republicans during the Republican’s entire presidency.
Gallup pollsters suspected that Biden’s recent dip in Democratic support stemmed from his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, but warned there is no way to fully prove that.
Instead of pointed out an investigation which was released in February and showed that Democrats sympathized with the Palestinians and Israelis for the first time in the poll’s more than two-decade history.
Biden has shown steadfast support for Israel and the country’s right to defend itself without strongly advocating for a ceasefire that could potentially save Palestinian lives, some Democrats have argued.
Gallup pollsters noted that by looking at the daily presidential tracking numbers, it was clear that Biden’s approval rating among Democrats fell sharply in the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas and Biden’s pledge of full support for Israel. the same day.
Gallup pollsters noted that by looking at the daily presidential tracking numbers, it was clear that Biden’s approval rating among Democrats fell sharply in the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas and Biden’s pledge of full support for Israel. the same day.