It’s not unusual for U.S. presidents to experience an approval rating jump when international conflicts crop up around the globe.
Joe Biden is an exception to the rule (so far).
–
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24th. Below you’ll find a comparison of three major polling outfits who’ve released numbers for Biden immediately before and after the invasion:
Economist/YouGov
2/19 – 2/22 -> 44 approve, 50 disapprove (net -6)
2/26 – 3/1 -> 44 approve, 49 disapprove (net -5)
Change: Net +1
Politico/Morning Consult
2/19 – 2/21 -> 45 approve, 53 disapprove (net -8)
2/25 – 2/27 -> 41 approve, 56 disapprove (net -15)
Change: Net -7
Reuters/Ipsos
2/22 – 2/23 -> 43 approve, 53 disapprove (net -10)
2/28 – 3/1 -> 43 approve, 54 disapprove (net -11)
Change: Net -1
–
It’s pretty clear that a majority of Americans view the Ukrainian situation and the recent Afghanistan crack-up as at least largely the products of Joe Biden’s weakness. Everything else going on at the moment – inflation, energy prices, crime, supply chain issues – are contributing to that perception.
We’ll see how things go in the weeks and months ahead, but a president who can’t get a pop out of Russian aggression is a rarity. Midterm Democrats should start panicking if they’re not already.
