“Downhill, Divisive, Negative”: America Describes Joe Biden’s Presidency

The one overarching thing Joe Biden promised when running for President in 2020 was that he would be a less “divisive” force in the Oval Office. He was to return things to “normal” and let Americans stop worrying about the news coming out of Washington every day.

For all that talk on the campaign trail, which was nothing more than empty rhetoric from an empty suit, the reality of governing the country by taking a decidedly left-wing tack is now coming back to haunt the White House.

In a recent NBC News poll, Americans were asked to describe the country under Biden as they saw it. The results aren’t pretty as nothing but derogatory adjectives came to mind when asked to sum up where the country is and where it’s headed:

Overwhelming majorities of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, that their household income is falling behind the cost of living, that political polarization will only continue and that there’s a real threat to democracy and majority rule.

What’s more, the nation’s top politicians and political parties are more unpopular than popular, and interest in the upcoming November midterms is down — not up.

And when Americans were asked to describe where they believe America is today, the top answers were “downhill,” “divisive,” “negative,” “struggling,” “lost” and “bad.”

America heading “downhill” and being “lost” is probably the way most Americans feel under Biden’s horrendous first year in the White House. With rampant inflation and a tone from the President of hubris, there doesn’t seem to be a change in course coming anytime soon.

There seems to be disarray in the West Wing when it comes to settling on a coherent and inclusive message. Instead, it’s been nothing but partisan attacks and left-wing talking points.

One specific question this poll asked was concerning family income. Compared to a couple of decades ago, more Americans feel like they’re falling behind despite what the President says about rising wages:

A further 72% believe the country is on the wrong track headed in the wrong direction. That’s seven in ten Americans who think things aren’t going that well. If the White House doesn’t admit some failures and reorient itself, Biden’s presidency is done.

Beyond the dismal view of the country, NBC also found Biden hitting a new approval rating low:

That pessimism and gloom isn’t helping the party in control of the White House and Congress.

While the poll shows Democrats enjoying a narrow 1 point advantage over Republicans as the party that should control Congress, it also shows President Joe Biden’s job approval rating remaining in the low 40s, Republicans holding a double-digit edge in enthusiasm and key Democratic groups losing interest in the upcoming election.

“There is nothing but flashing red flights and warning signs for Democrats,” said McInturff, the Republican pollster.

Many Democrats are internally panicking and hope the White House listens and responds to some of their concerns. One big idea floating around is for Biden to fire White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, a bomb-throwing partisan who many see as a central part of the problem:

As Joe Biden limps into his second year in office, a common criticism has emerged among fellow party members: his top advisers are too insular, rigid and self-assured.

At the center of it all is Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain.

For months, moderate Democrats in Congress have complained that Klain is overly deferential to their liberal colleagues, to the point where some members and Hill staff privately said he needed to be replaced.

Klain is a left-wing partisan hack, and moderate Democrats see him as an obstacle to setting Biden on a different course. Since this president has no leadership qualities whatsoever, removing Klain seems unlikely, but there are clearly problems and divisions within the administration.

Klain should be fired or at least demoted, and probably several others. As far as advising and guiding Biden’s presidency, they’ve failed in every way. Afghanistan was a trainwreck, Biden’s legislative priorities have ended in failure, the country is facing record inflation, and there seems to be a double-down attitude of partisan flamethrowing coming from the top.

Biden promised something different, but this isn’t the kind of “different” he was talking about. Or maybe it was.