White House’s Political Bungling Pulls Down Biden’s Already Low Ratings
A fresh Morning Consult political intelligence quarterly tracking report shows that President Biden has negative approval ratings in 40 states, including key midterm battlegrounds.

There’s a wonderful story in today’s Washington Post under the headline, “Fears Mount Inside White House That Manchin Won’t Agree to Any Deal.” The White House finally figured that out yesterday? Senator Manchin’s been saying this since last summer.
He’s opposed to massive social spending without work requirements. He believes inflationary deficit spending should be stopped. He also believes that we should be drilling for more oil and gas to relieve price pressures, and reduce the inflation tax on middle-class families. He opposes the build-up of federal debt. He has said all along that inflation is public enemy no. 1.
Mr. Manchin hasn’t changed his tune since July 2021, in his memo with Senator Schumer.
He doesn’t want phony budget gimmick scoring for any deals. He knows full well that the last Biden package of less than $2 trillion would actually come to $5 trillion, and there would be no pay-fors.
So let me get this right: The White House just figured this out yesterday? Really? This is the kind of political bungling that tells us why the latest TIPP poll is titled, “Who Do Dems Want in 2024? Right Now, Anybody But Biden.”
The TIPP poll asked: Who do you want to see run for president on the Democratic ticket in 2024? Just 19 percent of those responding answered Joe Biden. Nineteen percent.
That means 81 percent of Americans don’t want Mr. Biden to run again. This is one of the best polls in the country, known for its accuracy. And then they go through a whole laundry list of choices: Kamala Harris, 7 percent, Bernie Sanders, 6 percent, Michele Obama, 6 percent, Hillary Clinton, 4 percent…. And on and on. It just goes down from there. They looked at about 15 names. Most of them couldn’t break 2 percent.
By the way, I’ve suggested to Raghavan Mayur that in his next poll of likely Democratic voters, he should put in Mr. Manchin, who I think would score much higher than most Beltway types understand.
Incidentally, I would say it is precisely because Mr. Manchin won’t agree to any Build Back Better deal that he would be popular. Mr. Manchin could save the Democrats from themselves if they let him.
Meanwhile, a fresh Morning Consult political intelligence quarterly tracking report out yesterday shows that President Biden has negative approval ratings in 40 states, including key midterm battlegrounds.
This poll shows him losing ground with Democrats, young voters, and independents. Add to that Hispanics, which shows up in a number of other polls. The president is under water by double digits in 33 states, including Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.
His approval has dropped by 29 points among voters younger than 45. In New Hampshire, his approval rating among Democrats has fallen from 93 to 78. Similar numbers are showing up in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Nevada.
In a New Hampshire Journal poll this month, respondents were asked whether they thought Mr. Biden was physically and mentally up to the job, in case of a crisis. A majority, 54 percent, responded “not very/not at all.” Forty-two percent responded “very/somewhat.” That is especially not good.
In my view, underpinning these remarkably bad poll numbers is the fact that Mr. Biden’s policy agenda has completely and utterly failed. That is why his presidency is collapsing.
Inflation is soaring. Millions are crossing our open southern border. Parents are furious about the woke teaching in schools. Proposals to jack up taxes are uniformly unpopular. So are high-spending budgets. So is his failure to solve a national crime wave. His attempts to blame inflation and gasoline prices on Vladimir Putin are a source of mockery.
Common sense dictates that producing more oil and gas will bring down prices. Common sense dictates that destroying the entire fossil fuel industry with no real alternative energy plans is a terrible idea. But the climate change, green new deal obsession that runs throughout every nook and cranny of Biden policies lacks any common sense whatsoever. People know that.
And when Mr. Biden gets up at forums and attempts to blame Vladimir Putin or price-gouging gas stations or poultry companies or lots of others, people see right through his falsehoods. And those falsehoods have caused his poll numbers regarding honesty and confidence to plunge.
The thing about Americans is they are smart, not dumb. The most highfalutin, best-educated so-called experts believe otherwise. But the striped pants set is wrong. And they’re killing Mr. Biden. With so many things gone wrong, including the catastrophe in Afghanistan and the dollar-short, day-late policies in Ukraine, you would think heads would have rolled by now, but they haven’t.
That is why the Democrats do not want Mr. Biden in 2024. That is why his approval ratings have dropped into the low 30s. That is why a usually optimistic America has become demoralized.
The Biden story is not working. I guess I may be the last optimist, because I’m here to tell you — repeat after me — the cavalry’s coming.
From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business News.