The Post itself calls it an “outlier” in an apparent attempt to minimize it. Yet, they also still chose to publish it when, like all media outfits, they can decide that any poll is too poorly done or find some other reason to not publish it. Yet they did. And that fact is more noteworthy than the poll result.
First, the poll is pretty sketchy being so far outside other polls, including putting Trump up 15 points with the youngest voters. However, on a trend line, it looks like it may just jump ahead a bit as the RealClear Politics aggregate of polls now shows Trump up 1.5 percent on Biden. Even that small lead is shocking as the candidate facing four sets of indictments that would total more than 500 years in prison is ahead of the sitting president.
Biden’s terrible, awful, no good presidency continues to crater his support among Americans while the endless indictments of Trump are proving that he remains Teflon Don. In their fascistic rush to imprison a political opponent, Democrats are managing to make Donald Trump a sympathetic victim.
However, even setting that side, the poll has some eye-poppingly bad numbers for Team Biden. In addition to Biden’s favorability being 19 points underwater, a drill down finds much worse numbers. On issues top of mind with voters, 54 percent say they are worse off financially under Biden's presidency, the worst for any president in Post/ABC polls since 1986.
Only 30 percent approve of Biden’s job on the economy while twice as many, 64 percent, disapprove. The economy is regularly pegged as the most important issue for voters right now, making that a harrowing number for Democrats. On immigration, a measly 23 percent approve, which means that issue is breaking through the normal floor for Democrats, showing even the base is abandoning Biden. So it’s no surprise 62 percent of Democrats say the party should choose someone else.
Understanding that establishment corporate media such as ABC News and the Washington Post act essentially as Super PACs for the Democratic establishment, the obvious question is: Why did they publish a poll with results so gruesome for their clients, let alone one that they themselves call an “outlier?”
The answer is that it fits part of a broader public effort tilling the ground of primarily Democrat voters for the removal of Biden from the top of the ’24 ticket. Democrat talking heads and political leaders have begun quietly and less quietly questioning if the president is up to the task and if his age is becoming too big an issue.
It started with the Washington Post’s David Ignatius, as reliable a Democrat establishment mouthpiece as there is, writing two weeks ago that, “President Biden should not run again in 2024.” That opened the door for a more official public discussion.
One of the most telling episodes was Rep. James Clyburn, D-South Carolina, being coy about the future of Kamala Harris while on Meet the Press. With her approvals somehow worse than Biden’s, Democrats know she cannot be the standard-bearer in a general election. They also know that replacing her risks losing some of their utterly essential black vote.
But the polls, even if this one is exaggerated, are making painstakingly clear that continuing the current course invites disaster for Democrats: Trump could win the White House and Republicans could control both chambers. Basically, Biden and Harris both have to go to give the Democrats better odds.
How desperate are Democrats feeling? Politico is reporting that ProgressNow is launching a $70 million project to transform doddering old Joe Biden into “Joe Cool” online — a move that has the support of the White House and has already employed photoshopping Biden images. It’s a Hail Mary full of memes.
In the ideal Democrat world, both Biden and Harris would be off the ticket, replaced by some more attractive combo of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, or others on their fairly thin bench. But before any such seeds can be planted, the ground must be thoroughly plowed so Democrat voters, particularly the core base of black and women voters, can accept the wisdom of doing so to stop the Existential Threat.
One step at a time. The public opinion field is being readied for the next step.
