US elections: Poll result gives hope to Biden

While their was a big boost for Democrats with unlikely wins in GOP-dominant states, Biden is yet to convince voters of his unifying credentials.

A CNN survey contained damning verdicts by voters on Joe Biden’s performance and advancing age, suggesting he has become the problem just when his party has found a winning formula. Picture: AFP

President Biden was buoyed by last night’s (Wednesday’s) US elections after a run of poor poll ratings.

There was a big boost for Democrats in Virginia when the party seized overall control of the state legislature by taking the House from the Republicans. The vote in support of abortion rights in Republican-controlled Ohio confirmed that Democrats own a potent issue that could resonate strongly in the 2024 presidential election.

Biden may draw some comfort from the trend that the party which has triumphed in Kentucky in the past five election cycles has gone on to win the White House.

The re-election of Andy Beshear as governor shows how a popular figure can still bridge the seemingly entrenched polarisation of US politics today - a goal Biden, who has yet to convince voters of his unifying credentials, set for his presidency in 2020.

Walking into this office every day is the honor of a lifetime. We love you, Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/Q0Luye9WuC

— Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) November 8, 2023

There was bad news for Biden personally in the month he turns 81 as exit polls in Ohio and a new CNN survey contained more damning verdicts by voters on his performance and advancing age.

The CNN poll showed Donald Trump ahead by 49 per cent to 45 per cent in a head-to-head. It gave Biden 36 per cent as an “effective world leader” and Trump 48 per cent. Just 25 per cent of voters agreed that Biden had the stamina to continue to serve as president. Biden’s approval rating of 39 per cent at this stage of the presidential term is higher only than Jimmy Carter, who was on 32 per cent in 1979, and just below Trump’s 41 per cent in 2019.

Voters in Ohio resoundingly backed an amendment to restore abortion rights, confirming that Democrats own a potent issue that could resonate strongly in the 2024 presidential election. Picture: AFP

Worryingly for Biden, it suggests that he has become the problem just when his party has found a winning formula.

Yet the White House believes the elections show that, whatever voters tell pollsters, when they get into a polling booth they are more likely to stick with Biden and reject the Republican Party of Trump.

The Times