It's in a two-minute TV ad narrated in authoritative and reassuring tones by none other than Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks. It was in a graphics and light display outside the White House on Wednesday night, when the Democratic National Committee showcased record job numbers and vaccination progress. It's in the avalanche of fact sheets from the administration detailing President Joe Biden's 2021 accomplishments, and it was in the sometimes-exasperated voice of Biden himself Wednesday as he pleaded his case for a good freshman year grade.
If there were an avatar to accompany the PR campaign, it would be an image of the baffled president, lifting America up by its collective lapels and screaming, "What is wrong with you people? Why don't you LIKE ME!?"
The frustration is understandable. On paper, the Biden administration has racked up some impressive achievements: more than 6 million new jobs were created, a single-year record. Unemployment dropped from 6.2% to 3.9%, another single-year first. Childhood poverty and hunger are down while average wages went up. Biden has the first majority non-white Cabinet in history and presides over the most diverse administration in history. He passed a massive COVID-19 relief bill and an expansive infrastructure package many previous presidents tried and failed to achieve.
But as polling consistently shows, American voters don't like Biden – or at least, they don't think he's doing a good job. An average of current polling shows the president with an anemic 41.7% approval rating, with 53.4% disapproving of him. And while high inflation has alarmed many Americans, Biden's slide in the polls began last August, before prices started to jump. READ MORE...
