Biden Can Regain His Popularity

Jonathan Bernstein: “Whatever some pundits are speculating, President Joe Biden may rebound from his current slumping approval ratings. Biden is currently at around 46% approval. The last four presidents to win re-election all hit lower marks later in their first terms: Barack Obama was at 42% well into his second year; George W. Bush fell to 44% halfway through his fourth year; Bill Clinton was at 42% near the end of his second year; and Ronald Reagan reached 35% at the beginning of his third year.”

“When a president is doing badly, his weaknesses are readily apparent and ambiguous traits get interpreted as negative ones. In early 1983, pundits focused on Reagan’s factual errors and lack of command of policy details. Those flaws were no less real when things went better in the next two years. What appeared in 1984 and 1985 as resolve and toughness was, in 1982 and 1983, stubbornness and refusal to change when things were going badly.”