The Wall Street Journal has released its latest polling results, and nothing in them shows a Democrat comeback in the making (contrary to a recent claim by CNN). Joe Biden’s approval stands at a paltry 42 percent, and unlike past polls, the excuse that the SOTU hasn’t been completely factored in no longer applies. This is Biden’s “bounce,” and it’s anemic if it even exists at all.
Unfortunately for Democrats, Biden’s approval may be the highlight, though. Republicans lead on the generic ballot by five percent, a massive gap historically speaking, and one that continues to point at a red wave come November.
Further, the GOP holds a lead of nine points with Hispanic voters. That’s essentially unheard of, but tracks with numerous other data points showing Hispanic support moving towards Republicans over the last year. None of the other numbers in the poll are good either. Biden is upside down on how he’s handled the Ukraine situation, and a full 50 percent of respondents said inflation was their top issue of concern.
So what are Democrats doing to counter their slide into oblivion? The short answer is absolutely nothing. Instead, they are hammering down toward an electoral iceberg.
Every part of that plan is moronic. Americans are not buying the idea that inflation was caused by Putin. The inflation number prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stood at 7.5 percent in January of 2022. On Thursday, the latest report showed an eye-watering rate of 7.9 percent. Everyone that’s been buying groceries, energy, used cars, etc. has experienced the Biden inflation boom for the better part of a year. None of them are going to accept that an invasion that didn’t occur until February of 2022 is actually at fault.
As to the notion of promoting what Biden is doing to address inflation, the problem there is that he’s not actually doing anything to address inflation. Instead, he just keeps mumbling “Build Back Better” over and over, citing his massive spending bill that would only drive inflation higher. When it comes to gas prices, the president refuses to lift a finger to help Americans struggling with the costs at the pump. On the supply chain, the administration is actually pushing more stringent regulations instead of trying to relieve bottlenecks.
Lastly, the idea that Democrats can make November’s election a referendum on Republicans is laughable. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect someone to come up with after they just drank a Redbull and did a line of coke. First mid-terms are already historically disastrous for the party in power. Couple that with the fact that the world is in total collapse under the current Democrat leadership, and you can reasonably speculate that saying “but Republicans” is not going to work this time around.
Of course, there are some things Democrats could do to help their fortunes. They could immediately lift all holds on oil and gas leases and green-light Keystone XL. They could tell Russia and Iran to take a hike and repair the relationship with our Arab allies, which could lower gas prices and help with the situation in Ukraine. They could stop spending like drunken sailors and allow inflation to calm down. Heck, they could even stop hyperventilating over the fact that Florida has banned grooming of small children in school.
They aren’t going to do any of that, though. Call it delusion or fear of their base, but they are going to keep driving toward the cliff. You love to see it.