Biden is getting high marks from the public, even Republicans, on his handling of the pandemic and the economy. Since these are America’s two top priorities, this is good news for the administration. If people were upset about it, it would be bad news indeed.
But the public is less happy with his response to the latest migration at the border and the mass shootings.
Republicans are seizing on the flow of migrants at the southern border as a “crisis” — a term that White House aides have refused to invoke while also acknowledging the troubling circumstances — and accusing the current administration’s hasty rollback of tough immigration policies implemented by former President Donald Trump as the cause.
A majority of Americans (54%) call the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border a crisis, and another 42% believe it is a serious problem but not a crisis. Only 4% of Americans say it is not a serious problem.
The issue of immigration is one of the most polarizing among those included in the poll, with clear majorities of Republicans (89%) and independents (54%) disapproving of Biden, while one-third of Democrats say the same.
Similarly, Biden’s handling of gun violence draws disapproval from 86% of Republicans, 56% of independents and 37% of Democrats — the highest dissatisfaction among members of his own party of the issues asked about in the survey. The disapproval from both sides is likely seen by Republicans as pursuing too many gun restrictions and by some Democrats as not acting quickly enough.
The president suggested on Thursday that he wouldn’t expend his political capital on gun control reform right now, a view that appears at odds with most of the country. Roughly two-thirds of Americans in the poll said that enacting new laws to try to reduce gun violence should be a higher priority now, while 34% believe protecting gun rights should take precedence.
The first issue is almost certainly because the media has gone completely hysterical on the issue of immigration. It offers them the opportunity to show themselves as fair and balanced after being accused of “fake news” for the past four years. Unfortunately, they have been remiss in not telling the whole story or offering the appropriate context. The result of the overwrought coverage is that many in the public are now convinced that Trump was right. It’s the worst outcome possible — it’s encouraging people to believe that immoral solutions to an ongoing, non-emergency are necessary. They have got to do a gut check on this or we are going to end up in much worse shape on this issue that before and it will be their fault.
As for the gun legislation, Biden pretty much said he didn’t think there was much chance of anything meaningful happening and sadly, he’s right. It’s awful to be so pessimistic about something this important but it’s impossible not to be after so much gun violence only making the right even more determined to support the bloodshed. This is a matter of identity on the right and they are not going to budge, and certainly not while a Democrat is in the White House.
As long as Joe Manchin is the 50th vote there will be no gun safety laws. This, aside from the deep festering wound of racism, is the most intractable culture war issue we face. And on this one I feel nothing but despair:
Meanwhile, about that unity thing:
Biden has repeatedly underlined a desire to unify the country after four years with a divisive Trump at the helm, but so far, he’s made little headway.
While 30% of Americans think Biden is making the country more united, the same percentage think he is making it more divided. A plurality of 40% view his presidency as neutral on national unity.
Nearly two-thirds of Republicans (66%) think Biden is further dividing the country, and a combined 33% say he’s either improving unity (5%) or having no effect (28%). Among Democrats, 95% say Biden is making the country more united (55%) or having no effect either way (40%), while 5% say he’s perpetuating divisions. Independents are more split: 28% say more united, 26% say more divided and 46% say neither.
Surprise. Look at the Independents to get a real sense of what’s happening with this. However, Biden needs to “unite” the country around his agenda and as long as a majority backs his handling of their top priorities, he’s doing fine.