AP Poll: 7 in 10 Americans Say the Nation’s Economy Is in Bad Shape

Strange, that’s not how the White House describes the economy, although President Biden has started warning about food shortages, so maybe they’re trying to prime the American people that things are about to get worse. How’s that Build Back Better coming along?

There are some nasty numbers out today for Democrats from the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. Despite some rosy writing by the AP to try and smooth over the rough edges, there’s no good news for Biden cheerleaders regarding how Americans are viewing the economy:

About 7 in 10 Americans say the nation’s economy is in bad shape, and close to two-thirds disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. In addition, Americans are more likely to say his policies have hurt the economy than helped it.

Overall, 65% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of the nation’s economy, including 96% of Republicans and 36% of Democrats. The overall share saying they disapprove is up from 57% in December of 2021 and from 47% last July.

The AP tries to make it sounds as if voters have absolved Biden for the current situation of skyrocketing gas prices, but that lie won’t fly. On that question, this poll is an outlier since it became blatantly obvious back in the fall of 2021 that Biden’s policies were driving up gasoline to new record levels, well before Putin was rolling tanks on Ukraine.

It’s as if the pundits and political class act like history started this morning and nothing from the past 6 months or 12 months matters anymore, just wipe it under the rug. Was it Vladimir Putin that made the incoming Biden administration start shutting down oil leases and telling the oil and gas industry to take a hike? Of course, it was not, but that’s how they’re acting now trying to call this the “Putin gas hike” when in reality it’s squarely the “Biden gas hike” and it’s been the “Biden gas hike” since last summer.

There are a lot of whacky results in this poll and I assume it’s related to how questions are worded. For example, these two statements have trouble being reconciled:

Overall, Americans are more likely to say that higher than usual gas prices are more because of factors outside of Biden’s control than because of Biden’s policies, 55% to 44%.

Still, more think Biden’s policies are hurting the economy than helping it, 48% to 24%. Another 28% say they haven’t made much difference. The rejection comes after Biden steered a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package and $1 trillion infrastructure package through Congress, though his agenda on economic equity and clean energy stalled in Congress last December.

So on one hand, the economy and gas prices are being shafted outside Biden’s control. On the other hand, Biden’s economic policies are hurting the economy more than helping it. There are can be partial truth that the Russia-Ukraine invasion is upheaving global markets, that’s not in question. The issue here is leadership and bad economic policies since the start of the Biden presidency.

It didn’t have to be this way, but with inexperienced “check the box” cabinet members in charge, and a President who spent many decades marinating in the swamp, there’s no quality leadership to be found.

Once again, Democrats are left relying on trying to alter public opinion and play defense when anyone with open eyes for the past 12 months watched this Biden economic trainwreck happening in slow motion. A weakened America means an emboldened Russia, it always has.

If anything, Biden is responsible for a bad American economy and responsible for setting up the geopolitical situation which is making it 10x worse.