New polling reveals President Biden’s approval rating has jumped 8 points to 47%, as a majority of Americans approve of his handling of the Ukraine crisis.
The latest NPR/PBSNewsHour/Marist Poll found:
Overall approval rating jumped to 47%, up 8 points from the NPR poll last month. Presidents don’t generally see much, if any bounce, out of a State of the Union address. Since 1978, there had only been six times when a president saw an approval rating improve 4 points or more following State of the Union addresses, according to the pollsters. Three of those bounces were for former President Bill Clinton.
Ukraine handling is up 18 points to 52%;
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Coronavirus pandemic handling is now 55%, up 8 points; and
Economic handling up 8 points to 45%.
Even Meet The Press suggested that the political tide is shifting:
WATCH: President Biden's approval rating shifts up as people approve of his handling of the Ukraine crisis.
"Visceral" images coming from Ukraine is penetrating to people "who otherwise might not care" about political issues, @HallieJackson says. pic.twitter.com/1gS5QejIam
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 6, 2022
Polling Has Been All About COVID For More Than Two Years
Just as how the jobs numbers befuddled economists because they were so heavily pandemic influenced, political polling has been thrown into the blender by COVID.
The dynamic has been simple and consistent. When COVID cases are up, Biden’s approval rating is down. As COVID declines, Biden’s approval rating increases.
The United States might finally be at a turning point on the pandemic, so Biden’s approval rating is going back up.
If The Political Tide Shifts, Republicans Could Have A Midterm Problem
Republicans were banking on a bad economy, high inflation, and lots of COVID for the midterm election. Republicans were going to use the pandemic that they made worse to win in 2022.
The GOP has no agenda, and the party has no messaging. The entire message is that they are mad about losing in 2020 and want to win in 2022, which is packaged as America is a hell hole, and it is all Biden’s fault.
If inflation falls, Republicans will have nothing left to run on. If voters are actually content by November, the GOP will have a real problem.
The political tide is turning, and the midterm election could look much different than anyone expected.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association