Perhaps Joe Biden needs to make the Guns N' Roses classic "Sweet Child of Mine" his campaign theme song because "Where do we go now?" is a question he and his handlers appear to be stuck with. That was punctuated on Monday after the president's approval rating hit another all-time low.
According to 538, one of the industry's two most popular poll aggregators, Biden's approval sits at just 37.4 percent. That is not only the lowest of his presidency but also a record low for any president at this point in a re-election campaign since polling began. Biden wanted to make history. Well, he's doing it.
Biden's Tanking Popularity Hits New Historic Low, Signals Reelection Doom for 2024
What do you do if you are an advisor to Biden right now? What can you possibly say to illustrate a pathway forward? The president is now more unpopular than George W. Bush was in his final year in office, and most of us remember how bad that situation was.
Where does he go now? I don't think there's an answer to that question that can presume victory anymore. Perhaps if Biden had put his ego aside and not passed multiple pieces of legislation that helped run inflation (and interest rates) to absurdly harmful levels, he could have avoided this downfall. Maybe if he'd told his base to pound sand and taken real steps to secure the border a couple of years ago, he'd have avoided a major domestic crisis. Heck, even if had just unequivocally supported Israel against Hamas instead of trying to appease radicals in Dearborn, he'd probably be a few points higher today.
Like the Jim Cramer of politics, Biden can't help but make the wrong decision at every juncture. If you're a fan of Seinfeld, you might remember the episode entitled "The Opposite." It begins with George complaining at the diner to Jerry and Elaine that every instinct he's ever had in his entire life has been wrong. Later in the scene, as the three argue about whether George should go talk to a woman who smiled at him, Jerry quips, "If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right."
If Biden's handlers wanted to win the election, they'd tape Biden's eyelids open and force him to watch that episode a few dozen times until it sinks in. Every instinct the president has ever had has been wrong, but instead of changing course, he's always leaned into failure. That is why his approval rating is the lowest in history.
Unfortunately for Biden, I think it's too late to make a course correction. Again, had he made some changes a few years ago, maybe things would be different. He didn't, though, and now he's stuck. The economy doesn't have time to change dramatically, and the president's foreign policy disasters are continuing to pile up. Where does he go now? He goes back to Delaware unless something dramatic happens.