Most Democrats don’t want President Joe Biden to run for re-election in 2024, according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Just 37 percent of Democrats say they want Biden for seek a second term, which is down from 52 percent in a survey taken just prior to the 2022 midterm elections, AP reported.
“While Biden has trumpeted his legislative victories and ability to govern, the poll suggests relatively few U.S. adults give him high marks on either,” according to the AP. “Follow-up interviews with poll respondents suggest that many believe the 80-year-old’s age is a liability, with people focused on his coughing, his gait, his gaffes and the possibility that the world’s most stressful job would be better suited for someone younger.”
The latest survey on Biden’s cratering support comes despite improvement in the metrics on issues that have weighed him down during his first two years in office — inflation (month-to-month inflation has slowly lessened) and gas prices (regular average gas price has declined to about $3.44 per gallon from more than $5 per gallon).
The poll also comes on the eve of the State of the Union address where Biden is expected to defend his policies and make his case for re-election.
“This is the year and the message where the president needs to establish his governing and campaign narrative: What his presidency has meant to the public’s well-being and why they should give him their support,” Martha Kumar, professor emeritus at Towson University and a specialist in White House communications, told NBC News. “If he doesn’t do that, by next year Ron DeSantis,” a potential Republican candidate, “and Donald Trump will have defined him by his failures as they see them.”
Respondents to the AP survey give Biden an overall approval rating of 41 percent, yet only 22 percent of U.S. adults say he should run for a second term as president, down from 29 percent before the midterms.
Biden is performing better among older Americans, with 49 percent of voters age 45 and older saying he should run for re-election. But, that figure is down from 58 percent in October. Among voters under the age of 45, only 23 percent say Biden should run again, down from 45 percent before the midterms.
“He seems to be in pretty good condition in my opinion and that’s coming from a 76-year-old woman,” Linda Lockwood, a Democrat and retiree from Kansas, told the AP. “You might be a little more careful going down the steps as you get older, but if your brain is still working, that’s the important part.”
