Hey, remember after the midterms, when the conventional wisdom was that President Biden had defied the odds, executed a surprising turnaround, and had momentum heading into the 2024 presidential cycle?
Yeah, never mind, at least as far as the latest ABC News-Washington Post poll tells it:
As he begins his campaign for reelection, President Biden faces substantial and multiple challenges, according to a Washington Post-ABC News survey. His overall approval ratings have slipped to a new low, more Americans than not doubt his mental acuity, and his support against leading Republican challengers is far shakier than at this point four years ago.
Biden’s overall job approval rating stands at 36 percent, down from 42 percent in February and about the same as the previous low of 37 percent in a Post-ABC poll conducted in early 2022. His disapproval stands at 56 percent, including 47 percent who disapprove “strongly.”
…Today, Biden is running behind the former president on the question of whom voters prefer for 2024.When asked who they would support in 2024, 44 percent of voting-age adults say they would “definitely” or “probably” vote for Trump while 38 percent would definitely or probably vote for Biden. The remaining 18 percent are either undecided or gave another answer.
If DeSantis were the Republican nominee, 42 percent today say they would definitely or probably vote for the Florida governor, as 37 percent would back Biden and 21 percent are undecided or chose another option.
Those numbers are brutal. The survey found 58 percent of Democratic-leaning adults said they preferred the party nominate someone other than Biden, and also found, “among independents who voted for Biden in 2020, 57 percent approve while 30 percent disapprove.” Even more frightening for the White House: “In the poll, by 54 percent to 36 percent, Americans say Trump did a better job handling the economy when he was president than Biden has done during his presidency so far.”
Also, a solid majority of Americans now believe Biden is too old to do the job: “Today, 63 percent say he does not have the mental sharpness to serve effectively as president, up from 43 percent in 2020 and 54 percent a year ago. A similar 62 percent say Biden is not in good enough physical health to be effective.”
These are the numbers you would expect to see from an 80-year-old president who only does events between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., five days a week, rarely if ever takes questions, needs a cheat sheet for press conferences, and meanders and mumbles when he’s not reading off a teleprompter.
Also, when contemplating the choice before the GOP in this cycle, this detail is amusing: “Among Americans who say Biden lacks the mental sharpness to serve as an effective president, 12 percent nonetheless say they would definitely or probably vote for him against Trump.” In other words, a decent number of people are saying, “we’ll take our chances with the senile old guy rather than live through another four years of Trump.”