VOTERS STILL HEDGING
‘State’ment didn’t help Joe in polls
President Biden’s much-hyped State of the Union address had little to no effect on his popularity among Americans, according to two postspeech polls out this week.
In the aftermath of the annual address, only 37% of voters approved of Biden’s handling of the country, according to a HarrisX post-State of the Union poll revealed Monday, while a USA Today-Suffolk survey published Wednesday showed 33% saying the speech positively impacted their view of the president.
Don’t want prez
Among the 2,017 registered voters surveyed online by HarrisX on Friday through Sunday, 64% said Biden should not seek another term, while 61% said he did not adequately address immigration and 59% said his speech only served to further divide the country.
A majority of 57% also said the speech raised concerns about Biden’s age and 54% said it raised questions about his fitness for office.
The USA Today-Suffolk landline and cellphone poll from Friday through Monday of 1,000 registered voters showed Biden having an approval rating of just 41% and a disapproval rating of 55%, a slight uptick from the outlet’s last survey taken in December, which showed a 39% approval rating and a 58% disapproval rating.
A third of USA Today poll respondents said they thought the US economy was in recovery, the highest reading since the president took office in January 2021.
Close vote seen
Biden and former President Donald Trump clinched the Democratic and Republican nominations, respectively, on Tuesday and the USA Today poll showed a tight race shaping up in November.
Trump had 40% of the prospective vote while Biden had 38%, which is within the survey’s 3.1 percentage-point plusor-minus margin of error.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. scored 9%, while fellow independent Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein each recorded 2%.
The HarrisX poll showed that if the election were held today, 46% of voters would support Trump and 41% would back Biden. With so-called “leaners” included, Trump led Biden, 52% to 48%, a gap that is just within of the poll’s 2.2 percentage-point plus-or-minus margin of error.
But the USA TodaySuffolk poll indicated a quarter of voters might change their minds before Election Day.
A majority of those now supporting thirdparty candidates, including 75% of Kennedy backers and 94% of those favoring Stein, said they could be swayed to other contenders.