Time is running out for President Joe Biden to change the public perception of his economic stewardship, with numerous allies worrying that inflation, regardless of the relative health of the economy, will hamper the president through the general election.
For months, if not years, voters have given the president poor marks for his handling of the economy. Just 38% of participants in a May poll from Gallup said they had a “great deal” or fair amount of confidence in Biden’s economic policies, with 46% saying the same of former President Donald Trump, Biden’s 2024 Republican opponent.
Meanwhile, a poll conducted by Harris Research found nearly 3-in-5 people believing the country is in a recession despite slow but sure economic growth over the past three-plus years.
Biden, the White House, and his 2024 campaign have long shaken off his negative economic polling by saying that public perception will improve as more of his spending packages are implemented and people feel their benefits firsthand.
And despite his negative economic polling, Biden has put the economy and inflation at the forefront of his reelection bid, frequently touting how his landmark infrastructure and science investments are building the economy from the “bottom up and the middle out,” even in the face of warnings about doing so from some of his top campaign advisers.
Still, multiple Democratic strategists familiar with Biden’s campaign strategy told the Washington Examiner that, with just over five months until November, voters’ economic perceptions of both the president and Trump are unlikely to change.
“President Biden is responsible for some of the most meaningful public investments in U.S. history and continues to work tirelessly toward righting the economic wrongs that have kept down hard-working Americans for decades,” one strategist claimed. “He and Vice President Harris have spent months crisscrossing the country, explaining the benefits of their economic agenda, and comparing it with the same old trickle-down policies Trump and Republicans have been clinging to for the past forty years. If everything this president has done hasn’t changed your mind yet, then nothing will.”
“A healthy job market isn’t worth a damn to an independent voter whose grocery bill has doubled in recent years,” a second Democratic operative opined.
A third strategist commended the president for championing drug prices for seniors and continuing his forgiveness of student loan debt relief, even in the face of Republican opposition, but expressed concerns that those narratives are drowned out in media coverage of ongoing inflation.
“We always want to talk about how the president’s policies will shape the future, but that doesn’t make it any easier for someone struggling to pay their monthly bills,” that person explained.
Furthermore, that person suggested that Biden’s student loan debt actions might be alienating some voters who haven’t reaped those benefits, specifically voters who chose not to go to college and take on loan debt of their own.
“These are all valid concerns, and it’s something the White House hasn’t really figured out how to handle over the past two years,” the strategist concluded.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was pressed on this specific dynamic during a press briefing on May 22.
“This is one part of his economic policy, but as he’s thinking forward, as he’s looking at all Americans, all communities, he wants to make sure that there is an economy that doesn’t leave — again, doesn’t leave anybody behind, and historically that trickle-down economics does not work,” she told reporters. “There are many ways that the president has made sure that Americans have what they need to move forward with their lives, create and build a family where they’re — they feel like they’re going after their dreams as well.”
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One veteran Democratic campaign operative told the Washington Examiner that, though the economy consistently shows up as the top campaign issue for voters in polls, Biden’s poor economic marks could be boiled down to simple partisan politics.
“Ultimately, this election won’t be decided by inflation. Just like in 2020, voters have a choice between President Joe Biden, a decent man doing his best to help all Americans, and someone who cares only about himself,” that person concluded matter of factly. “On the one hand, stability and hope for a better future — on the other, total chaos. The choice is that simple.”
