President Joe Biden’s approval rating creeped back up to 45 percent this month, up from a low of 36 percent in July.
The bump comes from Democrats showing renewed enthusiasm for Biden, with 78 percent of party members now approving of the job Biden is doing, up from 65 percent in July, according to the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey.
Still, when a trio of prominent Michigan Democrats were asked if he should run for re-election during his trip Wednesday to Detroit, two party members said they’d support him should he decide to run and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who’s running for re-election, wouldn’t engage with the question.
Whitner laughed and answered, ‘I’m not having that conversation.’
‘I’m going to tell you, if he runs we’re all supporting him,’ said Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell. ‘Those are questions designed to cause trouble,’ she said, scolding reporters.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow was asked specifically if he should run for president. Instead she answered that she’d back Biden if he decides to run.
‘There’s no question about that, if President Biden runs again, count me in,’ Stabenow said.
President Joe Biden’s approval rating creeped back up to 45 percent in September, up from a low of 36 percent in July
Biden’s boost came from Democrats looking at the president with renewed enthsiasm. In July 65 percent of Democrats approved of the president – a number that now stands at 78 percent
A trio of Michigan Democrats (from left): Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Rep. Debbie Dingell and Sen. Debbie Stabenow were asked about Biden’s 2024 prospects during his Detroit Auto Show tour on Wednesday. Dingell and Stabenow said they’d support him, if he decided to run
As of late, Biden has had a string of legislative victories including the Inflation Reduction Act passed – which includes key climate and prescription drug provisions – the CHIPs act, which funds the U.S. semiconductor industry and a veterans bill to deal with health impact of burn pits in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Biden also made good on a campaign promise to write-off some student loan debt.
The president has also gone on the offensive against former President Donald Trump and his allies – hitting the ‘ultra-MAGA’ set at extreme and anti-democratic.
Gasoline prices have also gone down in recent weeks – tumbling 26% since June to $3.71 a gallon, reducing the pressure somewhat on family budgets even if inflation remains high.
The president’s rating now is similar to what it was throughout the first quarter of the year, but he continues to fall short of early highs.
His average approval rating in AP-NORC polling through the first six months of his term was 60%.
And his disapproval rating – sitting at 53% – is still high.
The economy continues to be a weakness for Biden.
Just 38% approve of his economic leadership as the country faces stubbornly high inflation and Republicans try to make household finances the axis of the upcoming vote.
Twenty-nine percent of U.S. adults say the economy is in good shape, while 71% say it’s doing poorly.
In June, 20% said conditions were good and 79% said they were bad.
Interviews suggest a big reason for Biden’s rebound is the reemergence of Trump on the national stage, causing voters such as Stephen Jablonsky, who labeled Biden as ‘OK,’ to say voting Democratic is a must for the nation’s survival.
‘The country has a political virus by the name of Donald Trump,’ said Jablonsky, a retired music professor from Stamford, Connecticut. ‘We have a man who is psychotic and seems to have no concern for law and order and democracy. The Republican Party has gone to a place that is so unattractive and so dangerous, this coming election in November could be the last election we ever have.’
Republicans feel just as negative about Biden as they did before. Only about 1 in 10 Republicans approve of the president overall or on the economy, similar to ratings earlier this summer.
Christine Yannuzzi, 50, doubts that 79-year-old Biden has the capacity to lead.
‘I don’t think he’s mentally, completely aware of everything that’s happening all the time,’ said Yannuzzi, who lives in Binghamton, New York. ‘The economy’s doing super poorly and I have a hard time believing that the joblessness rate is as low as they say it is.’
‘I think the middle class is being really phased out and families are working two and three jobs a person to make it,’ the Republican added.
Democrats are more positive now than they were in June, 46% vs. 31%.
Republicans remain largely negative, with only 10% saying conditions are good and 90% saying they’re bad.
About a quarter of Americans now say things in the country are headed in the right direction, 27%, up from 17% in July.
Seventy-two percent say things are going in the wrong direction.
Close to half of Democrats – 44% – have an optimistic outlook, up from 27% in July. Just 9% of Republicans are optimistic about the nation’s direction.
Akila Atkins, a 27-year-old stay-at-home mom of two, thinks Biden is ‘OK’ and doesn´t have much confidence that his solutions will curb rising prices.
Atkins says it’s gotten a little harder in the last year to manage her family’s expenses, and she’s frustrated that she can no longer rely on the expanded child tax credit.
The tax credit paid out monthly was part of Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package and has since lapsed.
The Census Bureau reported Tuesday that the expanded tax credit nearly halved the child poverty rate last year to 5.2%.
Atkins said it helped them ‘stay afloat with bills, the kids’ clothing, shoes, school supplies, everything.’
Whatever misgivings the Democrat in Grand Forks, North Dakota, has about Biden, she believes he is preferable to Trump.
‘I always feel like he could be better, but then again, he’s better than our last president,’ she said.