A majority of Americans believe the nation is heading on the wrong track, a CIVIQS poll found this week, as President Joe Biden launched his reelection campaign Tuesday, demanding four more years.
Sixty-seven percent of Americans say Biden’s America is heading in the wrong direction, and just 22 percent say it is going in the right direction. Ten percent are unsure.
Similarly, 59 percent say the nation’s economy is getting worse, while 18 percent say it is getting better. Another 18 percent say it is staying the same.
Overall, just 39 percent approve of Biden. Fifty-three percent disapprove.
On Tuesday morning, Biden launched a video introducing his reelection campaign, which failed to mention any accomplishments over the past few years.
Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms. I believe this is ours.
That’s why I’m running for reelection as President of the United States. Join us. Let’s finish the job. https://t.co/V9Mzpw8Sqy pic.twitter.com/Y4NXR6B8ly
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 25, 2023
“When I ran for President four years ago, I said we were in a ‘battle for the soul of America,’ and we still are,” he said. “The question we’re facing is whether, in the years ahead, we have more freedom or less freedom.”
According to a CBS News/YouGov poll on Tuesday, 59 percent of Americans disapprove of Biden’s performance as president, and just 41 percent approve. Only 17 percent strongly approve. Forty-one percent strongly disapprove.
“Let’s finish this job. I know we can,” Biden concluded in the campaign video. “Because this is the United States of America. And there’s nothing, simply nothing, we can not do if we do it together.”
A recent USA Today/Suffolk University survey found that about 40 percent of individuals who voted for Biden in 2020 do not want him to launch a reelection campaign. Thirty-five percent of respondents prefer a third-party candidate over Biden.
The CIVIQS rolling job approval average tracked 473,788 responses between January 19, 2017, and April 20, 2023. The CIVIQS tracking model is meant to capture the shifts in attitude of various groups over time across all 50 states and Washington, DC. These changes can happen either over time or rapidly.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
