Despite it being early spring, to Placeholder President Joe Biden, it must feel as though it is the winter of Americans’ discontent-at least as it pertains to their view of his presidency. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows that a meager 33 percent of Americans approve of the job Biden is doing. In some polls, and by some measures, Biden is experiencing disapproval at a level not seen since the malaise of Jimmy Carter’s presidency.
While my parents taught me not to take joy in the misfortune of others, I have to admit I’m kind of giddy in seeing my countrymen turn away from this pathetic man who isn’t even fit to govern the island of misfit toys, let alone the once-greatest nation on earth. What’s better is that the 33 percent disapproval number for Biden isn’t even the best part.
The really good news is that in the same Quinnipiac poll only 21 percent of those ages 18-34 approve of the job Biden is doing as place holder president. That’s right! The generation that Americans love to bash as being self-absorbed, smartphone-obsessed, and generally lazy overall seems to have better political sense than do their parents.
There are some fairly obvious reasons as to why the age group of 18–34-year-olds might feel maligned. By varying measures, they are the most suicidal, alcohol-dependent, and depression suffering generation in history. Before they can even get started in life, they have had their present and future wealth stolen by those who came before them who have used government largess to live too large.
Never again do I want to hear the phrase, “Kid’s just don’t get it.” Kids are getting it and according to Quinnipiac they are “getting it” better than their parents. I can tell you from personal observations taken all around the country, young people are far more likely to be heard chanting, “Let’s go Brandon,” than are their grandparents.
To be sure, there are differing reasons for young people disapproving of Placeholder Joe. Some of those young people are idealistic socialist-communists who are angry that the President hasn’t done a better job of accelerating Marx’s predestined March toward Utopia. Those types aren’t dissatisfied because Biden isn’t embracing American-style values, they are dissatisfied because he hasn’t outlawed those values.
But discontent, regardless of its source, presents opportunity for the introduction of new ideas. People who are unhappy with the status quo can be more receptive to trying something different. They feel like they have less to lose. This is the perfect moment for Republicans to try to reach young people with a message of freedom and prosperity. After all, the socialist path on which America has been steadily hiking for nearly a century has not delivered them to the promised destination yet, nor does it appear to be anywhere in sight. Some degree of disillusionment must be setting in.
There is more bad polling news for Democrats. In the same Quinnipiac poll, 54% of Hispanics disapprove of Biden’s performance, very proximate to his disapproval among White voters of 59%. What is especially interesting about this number is that the Biden administration has been betting that by letting millions of Hispanics into the country illegally that members of that same racial demographic already in the United States would be made happier. They have been pandering to a group of Americans based upon a racial stereotype. It appears that American Hispanics are a bit more colorblind, and love their country a bit more, than Biden officials had calculated.
An antithesis to political disapproval can be political enthusiasm. In that context we find more good news for Republicans. As Politico recently reported, the “enthusiasm gap” between Republican and Democrat voters has gone from 11 percent in October to 17 percent by the end of March. This is even bigger than the raw number indicates. Remember it was less than two years ago there was a contentious presidential election that left many Republicans believing they had an election stolen from them. It raised many questions about how elections were conducted, as highlighted in the upcoming Dinesh D’Souza film 2000 Mules. These concerns have resulted in many Americans being discouraged enough to have lost a substantial amount of faith in the electoral system. They were deflated.
Then along comes a very inept, incoherent, and outright hateful Biden administration to save the enthusiasm day for Republicans. There’s nothing quite like watching a blatant attempt to destroy America from the inside out to cause patriotic Americans to get up off the canvas and say, “One more round.”
This recent polling makes it clear that there is a conservative version of intersectionality coming together. Republicans are far more enthused at the moment than are their Democrat counterparts. At the same time, the American people in general, and young people in particular, are dissatisfied with the current administration. Hispanic Americans make up a significant portion of that dissatisfaction. This means that Republicans should be able to put that enthusiasm to good use by going out and evangelizing the “good news” about free markets, first principles, and a strong America wherein people can feel safe and have a sense that they can go as far as their dreams and their drive will carry.
Recent polling is encouraging, but it needs to be remembered that polls are only measures. Poll results reflect perceptions of activity. The question before us is what sort of actions will Republicans take to act upon current perceptions? I guess we will have to wait for future polls to find the answer.