Feb 7

Feb 7 President Biden's approval rating rising during honeymoon period By John Zogby

President Biden is taking advantage of both a honeymoon period from the public and press, as well as the serious disarray within the Republican Party.

The new John Zogby Strategies poll out this week shows a 56% approval rate for handling his job, with 36% disapproving. This rating represents a hike of 5 percentage points over the percentage of votes he received in 2020. He holds on to the 61% support among both 18-29 and 30-49-year-olds and has improved his position among voters over 65 — from a 53%-47% deficit in the election against Donald Trump to a 55%-38% advantage. Most importantly from a polling standpoint is that from winning only 5% of the vote from Republicans last November, he is now approved by 30% each among Republican, conservative, and very conservative voters.

Clearly, this has emboldened Biden to reject a scaled back COVID-19 relief bill by 10 Republican senators. He and his party leaders in the Senate have paved the way for passage of most of the $1.9 trillion package via reconciliation. The Democrats also made a strong statement this week on removing controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, from her committee seats — something her GOP colleagues were unable/unwilling to do. On the flip side, Vice President Kamala Harris, most probably with a green light from the White House, made a bone-headed decision to conduct an interview in West Virginia, angering a vital ally in Sen. Joe Manchin.

The president announced that the United States would return to global engagement and told Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the world that the U.S. would no longer be tainted by activity in the brutal and inhumane war in Yemen. Two very good weeks in a row.

John Zogby (@TheJohnZogby) is the founder of the Zogby Poll and Zogby companies, including John Zogby Strategies, and author of We Are Many We Are One: Neo-Tribes and Tribal Analytics in the 21st Century America.