According to the latest polls, the current occupant of the Oval Office has a lower approval rating than any American president since Harry Truman (1945-1953).
The “net-negative” numbers — approval minus disapproval — show up in two polls taken during the last week in June: YouGov (minus 16) and Morning Consult (minus 13). These are just the most recent polls showing Biden’s disapproval rating reflecting unhappiness with him and his job performance. Other polls taken by Harris, Daily Kos, CBS News, and Quinnipiac and Marquette Universities show the same, or worse, net-negative numbers.
To even the most casual observer, the reason why is obvious: Biden’s economic program, Bidenomics, is failing, along with his mental acuity. At age 80 he’s already the oldest to occupy the White House and, if allowed to serve a second term in 2024, would be 82 years old.
Biden is also a liar, and voters continue to be reminded of it. In touting his “Bidenomics” program last week he said, “We created 13.4 million new jobs.” That is false. The job recovery began under President Trump, who was president when more than 16 million jobs were regained following the Covid lockdowns. Biden more accurately oversaw just 2 million real new jobs during his first term.
Biden said, “Pay for low-wage workers has grown at the fastest pace in over two decades.” But he forgot — he does that, often — to adjust for inflation. In real terms, weekly wages have actually fallen by more than three percent since he took office in January 2021.
Voters have always put their pocketbook ahead of other concerns when voting, and Biden will be blamed for such things as inflation and gas prices. When Biden entered the Oval Office, inflation was at 1.4 percent; it’s now four times higher. Gas cost $2.39 a gallon back then; now it costs $3.55 a gallon.
The enormous deficit spending under Biden has not only ravaged the purchasing power of the dollar, it has raised interest rates as well, costing car and home buyers more when financing their purchases.
The folks at DiscoverTheNetworks.org have made a nice living just posting Biden’s history of lies, deceit, misstatements and half-truths, to say nothing about his and his family’s long and tawdry history of corruption and selling out America to its enemies. For those with the stomach for it, here is the link. The list is overwhelmingly long, and the items are mostly condensed from original full-length sources likely totaling into the thousands of pages.
All of which is giving California Governor Gavin Newsom just the opening he needs. And, like a typical politician, when he sees his opportunity, he takes it. With Vice President Kamala Harris’ approval ratings even worse than Biden’s, Newsom got a nice little boost in his campaign for the presidency at Fox News last month. Appearing on Hannity, he was smooth, well-prepared, and sharp. He lied, too, but much more persuasively than Biden ever could.
He claimed that California was outperforming rival states Texas and Florida in new job openings and in tourism. He failed to tell the rest of the story: Half a million Californians have pulled up stakes in the last three years, thanks to high taxes, high energy costs, and out-of-control homelessness. And many of them have moved to Texas and Florida.
But never mind. In 2022, Newsom ran a short, 30-second television ad in Florida, just to test the waters in a Republican state. The ad succeeded beyond expectations. He touted himself and his policies obliquely, adroitly avoiding getting blatantly political:
I urge all of you living in Florida to join the fight. Or join us in California, where we still believe in freedom — freedom of speech, freedom to choose, freedom from hate and the freedom to love.
According to CNN’s Chris Cillizza, the ad was seen more than 3 million times on Newsom’s Twitter feed and “drove tons of media coverage over the [2022 July Fourth] holiday weekend.”
Not bad for the paltry $100,000 that the ad cost.
Add to this Newsom’s campaign schedule, with visits to the southern border and campaigning in Florida, and one is forced to agree with Cillizza: “Newsom isn’t waiting until he wins a second term as governor to start the 2024 race. He’s hoping to get a head start.”
Biden’s falling approval numbers widen Newsom’s open door.
