President Joe Biden's New Year's resolution to focus on the 2022 midterm elections will not be completely supported by Democratic candidates as the party endeavors to buck history and hold on to congressional power.
According to political commentator Darrell West, Biden, who describes himself as a skilled, empathetic campaigner, will be "a liability" for Democrats this midterm cycle.
"His poll numbers have dropped, and his base is dispirited because of his inability to pass Build Back Better and voting reforms," West told the Washington Examiner of Biden. "Republicans are virtually united against him."
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Republican strategist Alex Conant agreed Biden was poised to hinder Democrats from challenging competitive districts, especially among Independents, who seem to be weakening the President.
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"The last President to actually help his party's candidates in the midterms was George W. Bush in 2002," he said. "Presidents have difficulty translating their political capital to midterm candidates, but the candidates can nevertheless be weighed down by unpopular national policies."
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On average, 40% of the public supports Biden's job as President, while 55% doesn't approve, according to RealClearPolitics.
A recent Gallup poll reflects around the same approval and disapproval ratings. Yet, only one-third of Independents back Biden compared to the first six months of his Administration when a majority supported him.
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Gallup researchers cited the pandemic and the lethal withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan as potential catalysts for the resistance.
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Biden also lost ten percentage points among Democrats in the Gallup poll, dropping from 90% in December to 80% in January. Researchers referenced inaction about social welfare, climate, and voting reforms as potential explanations for the shift.
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For West, a Brookings Institution governance studies scholar, Biden's top priority over the next 10 months should be addressing the pandemic's public health and economic problems.
"Biden needs to get COVID and inflation under control for Democrats to have any shot in November," he said.
Biden has already clashed with nervous and annoyed Democratic candidates in a nationalized political environment.
Former Virginia gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe acknowledged Biden's spiraling popularity during what he thought was a private phone call last year. Biden won Virginia by 10 percentage points in 2020.
After multiple challenges regarding whether Biden would appear again with McAuliffe, the pair baffled together one more time before the President departed for Europe, where he remained until after the race was over. McAuliffe had earlier criticized Democrats for the $2 trillion price tag on Biden's social welfare and climate bill, in addition to their protracted negotiations.
Then, this month, Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who has made a name for herself advocating for more open elections, blamed a scheduling mix-up when asked why she did not attend Biden's highly anticipated voting reforms speech in her state. Other activists boycotted the event after the White House conceded it did not have a filibuster-proof legislative strategy to clear the proposed bills.
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