Springfield News-Sun

What Biden’s dismal polling says of leadership, ourselves

- Armstrong Williams Armstrong Williams is the largest minority owner of broadcast television stations in the U.S.

Recent polls show President Joe Biden sitting at a dismal 38% approval rating and Vice President Kamala Harris at an equally, but unsurprisi­ngly, depressing 28% approval rating just nine months into their terms. Even with the army of political propaganda outlets — or, dare I say, “journalist­s” — vehemently opposing former President Donald Trump and supporting Biden and his Democratic colleagues, Trump’s approval rating was still about the same at around 38%.

What does this say about the current leadership of our country? Should we simply chalk this up to a contentiou­s, all-or-nothing political climate? Or is it something more fundamenta­l? When a new president takes office, many individual­s and media pundits will debate for hours about their expectatio­ns for him and then criticize him based on his ability, or inability, to meet those expectatio­ns. But I have a

FROM THE RIGHT

Ross Douthat Star Parker

Jonah Goldberg Armstrong Williams

Pat Buchanan Marc Thiessen

George Will different perspectiv­e. I do not expect but rather hope that our president will carry out his duties in the best interests of the United States and serve as a role model for us all. That has always been my hope. Yet, with the Biden administra­tion, I am underwhelm­ed and extremely disappoint­ed with Biden’s job, like many who have voted against him and for him.

At every turn, it seems, Biden is asleep at the wheel. The man was elected to lead the most powerful nation in the world, yet more often than not, he has failed to do the simplest of things. I will not say that Trump is the polar opposite of Biden, that in every respect that Biden has failed, Trump succeeded; no man and no president is perfect. But at least when people laughed at Trump, he fought back, and despite what the media led you to believe, the man was feared, not for him being “unhinged,” as they said, but for his courage to fight back. Surely, there have been many Democratic presidents who proved themselves on the world stage; I can admit that. But that is because I do not believe that the primary issue rests solely with political parties; instead, it is about doing what is right for our country.

This country is being harmed by partisan politics. We quarrel at every turn, shunning dear friends and close colleagues for holding opposing political viewpoints . ...

Rather than lead a nation, the president has been relegated to a position of appeasing his base. He has taken a hard stance to appease the far left. We need a president who cares for everybody regardless of their party affiliatio­n and who will make tough decisions in the best interests of our nation, even if it might harm him in the long run and displease those who support him. I do not believe that Biden is doing that. I believe that both Biden and Harris are doing what is best for them, not for us. But maybe I am wrong; maybe they are just bad decision-makers . ...

Democrats should brace themselves for midterm carnage in 2022, and they can blame it on their radical socialist agenda and Biden’s devastatin­g and steadily declining poll numbers. The bulk of Americans do not fall into either extreme. Most people are centrists who want politician­s to work together, but this hasn’t happened thus far. Biden campaigned as a unifier, someone who could bring the country back together, but that hasn’t happened . ...

Partisansh­ip and tribalism are going to destroy our country if we don’t get control of it. Our nation can’t survive continuing on a path of distrust, hate and anger. Political leaders think too much for themselves and not enough about their responsibi­lity to the people.

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