REVIEW - Biden, Dems May Need To Start Worrying About Losing Congress Amid Growing Voter Discontent

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th November, 2021) Soaring inflation, high gas prices, and concerns over mental fitness have sent President Joe Biden's poll numbers spiraling downward - a trend that spells trouble for Democrats with the 2022 congressional elections a year away.

The swoon comes as the president is two months away from wrapping up his first year in office and less than twelve months before voters go to the polls in the midterm elections to determine if Biden's party will continue to control both chambers of Congress. Although the Democrats currently have an 8-seat majority in the House, the Senate is split evenly across party lines with Vice President Kamala Harris, for now, holding the tie-breaking vote.

In nearly every poll released in the course of the past month Biden's approval ratings have fallen dramatically - to as low as 36% in some polls - with voters expressing disappointment over his performance across a wide range of issues including inflation, gas prices, the border crisis, and foreign policy.

Biden's approval rating in the RealClearPolitics.com (RCP) average of the ten most recent polls sank to 41.3% last week, representing a 13-point drop in six months and a new low since taking office. In addition, within the same six-month time period, Biden's disapproval rating per the RCP average soared by more than 10 points to a new high of 52.5%.

Earlier in November, a Hill-HarrisX Poll revealed that more than 60% of US voters want Biden to step aside after his first term in office ends.

Biden is even being dogged by growing concerns about his cognitive acuity: A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll revealed last week that an alarming 48% of American voters do not believe Biden is "mentally fit."

Recent polling also shows a clear plurality of voters turning against Biden's Democratic Party overall, even after they finally managed to pass their $1.9 trillion infrastructure spending bill in November. For example, a recent Quinnipiac University poll revealed some 46% of US registered voters want the Republican Party to win control of both houses in the midterms.

In addition, candidates Biden backed in recent local races lost or fared poorly - including in states regarded as safe strongholds that voted for him in 2020. The Democrats lost the governor races in Virginia and control of both state legislature chambers at the beginning of November. At the same time, they only retained control of the governorship of New Jersey by a hairsbreadth.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump has a supposed "shadow" campaign operating targeting 2024, with internal polling showing him ahead of Biden in key swing states such as Georgia (+3%), Arizona (+8), Michigan (+12), Pennsylvania (+6), and Wisconsin (+10), according to a memorandum obtained by Politico.

PERFECT STORM: POCKETBOOK CRISES ON MULTIPLE FRONTS

Although the US has seen a drop in unemployment numbers under Biden and the stock market and vaccination rates are up, these developments have been offset by crises that have directly affected the household budgets of most Americans.

The annual rate of inflation per the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) reached 6.2% in October, the highest level in more than three decades.

A major problem for the White House is that voters see the administration as responsible. According to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll released last week a clear majority (57 percent) blame Biden for the dramatic inflation spike.

In addition to steep prices, Americans are suffering from lack of items on shelves as the US continues feeling the pain from global supply chain issues.

Not to mention, gas prices have soared to seven-year highs, which prompted the Biden administration to release 50 million barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve.

Critics have also slammed Biden for the ongoing immigration crisis. A record 1.7 million illegal migrants were encountered on the southern border with Mexico in fiscal year 2021, according to government data released last month, which has forced Biden to revert to some of the Trump administration's tougher policies.

Some experts believe the Democrats are headed for landslide losses in the 2022 midterms, although others say it is too soon to declare a Republican victory. However, there does seem to be consensus that it is time for the party of Jefferson to wake up and heed the warning signs.

Some of the crises driving the poor performance perception one could argue are not of Biden's own making, yet some argue the president and Congress bear a significant amount of responsibility for what is ailing many voters right now.

"As mainstream 'experts' ridicule the notion that the Biden administration uncorked inflation, workers, retirees and the unemployed are in shock at checkout counters and gas pumps suffering mammoth price increases for goods and services," Political analyst and former hedge fund manager Charles Ortel told Sputnik.

The trajectory pushed by Biden and the Democrats - in addition to Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) - is setting up an economic crash and more conflicts along numerous flashpoints, Ortel said. The analyst expressed doubts that anyone really believes "Team Biden and its enablers" are competent.

"Only DC insiders are likely still of this view whereas calls mount ever more fervently for an authentic renewal of broad-based economic opportunity here and sensible protection of America's remaining foreign interests abroad," Ortel said.

While underscoring that a truly representative sample of likely 2022 voters would terrify politicians in both parties, Ortel said current polling signals a rout is coming for the Democrats. He indicated that Democrats may be losing ground among independent voters, most of whom work in the private sector and are opposed to costly large-scale government initiatives.

University of Houston Professor of African-American History Gerald Horne said the crisis was "real" and the Democrats and Republicans alike had brought it on. However, the bottom line is the alarm bells are ringing louder for Biden's party.

"Yes, it is time for the Dems to worry about losing control," Horne warned.

What does not help, Horne added, is that both parties continued to obsess over narrow social issues pushed by their extreme wings.

"It is a bitter pill to swallow but a good deal of the Euro-American electorate cares more about trans-gender bathrooms, Critical Race Theory and depriving women of reproductive freedom, as opposed to subsidized child care, expansion of health care benefits, and saving the climate," Horne said.

However, Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access news, said it was too soon for Democrats to panic. Now that the Build Back Better (BBB) infrastructure spending bill has finally passed into law, there is plenty of time for its provisions to make a positive impact in the months ahead and boost the Democrats' fortunes, he said.

California State University Professor Emeritus of Political Science Beau Grosscup cautioned that it is still too early to know how effective Republican voter suppression efforts are. There was also time for the Democrats to revise their national campaign strategy and present their legislative successes to the US public in a more effective light, Grosscup maintained.