OPINION:
President Biden’s approval rate keeps hitting new lows, and for good reason.
He entered office by breaking the record for number of votes cast for a presidential candidate. He was hailed as a unifier, as a “return to sanity.” He promised an end to the pandemic, a “humane” border policy and transparent, honest White House communications with the public.
Now, he’s polling terribly in all his key policy areas. His most recent overall approval rating checks in at just 38%. His support from Americans is dwindling rapidly — especially among the independents who put him in office — but he’s also losing the support of his increasingly disorganized party.
None of this is surprising. Mr. Biden is reaping the rewards of false promises and bad policy.
The issues and voters that won him the presidency are now a major liability for him and everyone on the Democratic ticket, as more and more Americans realize that Mr. Biden will keep virtually none of his campaign promises. The midterm elections are historically not favorable to the party in power, even with a president who is doing a good job and whom Americans like.
It’s no wonder that major Democrats are starting to scramble for alternative party lines in an effort to keep their jobs. Moderates like West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema both stand more or less opposed to Mr. Biden’s plans for big spending and radical proposals like the abolition of the filibuster or packing the Supreme Court.
A few other high-profile Democratic dissidents have emerged outside of Congress and are starting to speak about issues Mr. Biden refuses to touch. Democratic New York mayor-elect Eric Adams, for example, ran a no-nonsense campaign focusing on issues that New York voters actually care about, like reversing recent increases in violent crime in New York City. Adams, a retired police officer, spoke to justice issues with expertise and commitment, and it paid off in his recent mayoral election win. Mr. Biden and his entourage should pay attention.
Other major Democrats are leaving the party altogether. Andrew Yang ran in the same Democratic primary as Mr. Biden and garnered wildly outsized national attention. He was young, optimistic, trendy and always online. Now, he’s ditching the Democrats and launching a third party. It seems that Mr. Biden’s party has become a sinking ship.
Mr. Biden has alienated not only his party but the voters who put him in the White House. He ran as a unifier and was elected to be one. Now, only one in three Americans think he will bring the nation together — a 14-point decline since March. In the recent Virginia elections, a stark 64% of Virginians said that the country is headed in the wrong direction. Of those, 73% voted for Glenn Youngkin.
Mr. Biden promised that America would return to the international stage as a collaborator, a force for good — but he made France so angry with an arms deal they briefly withdrew their ambassador. He has repeatedly surprised the closest U.S. allies with uncommunicated policy changes. And the withdrawal from Afghanistan will likely define his presidential legacy: It was a cataclysmic failure of intelligence, an administrative catastrophe and a humanitarian crisis.
He also promised a humane border policy. Instead, we’ve seen reports of disease and overcrowding in overwhelmed immigrant detention facilities. We saw an open-air holding camp with thousands of Haitian refugees. He’s presented no clear way to stop the flow or even process those who’ve already arrived. As a result, just 35% of Americans support his approach to the border — a new and recent low for his administration.
He promised transparency. Instead, his press secretary plays word games with reporters on his behalf. He refuses to take questions and mocks reporters who press him for answers.
He promised recovery from financially devastating pandemic lockdowns. Americans got inflation and widespread supply chain failure instead.
Americans don’t just vote for slogans; they vote for policy — and they’re paying attention. They see the crisis at the border, supply chain failures and inflation. They can recognize empty promises and polarizing political misdirection. They will remember Kabul and the allies we left behind.
Mr. Biden’s political deterioration is no mystery. Bad governance gets you bad reviews.
• Timothy Head is executive director of the Faith & Freedom Coalition.
