Biden needs to score in the culture wars

I continue to be puzzled by President Biden’s poor approval ratings. He is an affable man, clearly decent, and many of his policies and proposed policies are popular. So what explains his astonishingly low approval ratings, which are adding to the sense of doom felt by Democrats as they approach the midterm elections?

Of course inflation is the dominant explanation. But Biden’s fall preceded it. One answer might be found by unpacking the numbers. The most significant factor in Biden’s decline is a falloff in approval by Democrats and independents. Since the start of his presidency, Biden has gone from a 98 percent approval rating to 85 percent among Democrats, according to Gallup’s numbers. As of early this year, he has dropped significantly among groups often thought of as very left-wing — most notably among the youngest voters (Gen Z and millennials). He also lost a lot of ground with African Americans, Hispanics and the poorest Americans. By contrast, at this point in his presidency, Donald Trump had dropped a mere two points in his approval rating among Republicans, from 89 percent to 87 percent.

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