Americans lose confidence in Biden, D.C., our future

The California recall election turned out well for the Democrats.

With Gov. Gavin Newsom sinking in the summer polls, the party had been staring starkly at the prospect of losing the nation’s largest state and seeing its governor replaced by talk-show host Larry Elder.

Elder had rallied Republicans and started to surge, which terrified the Democrats. Not only might they lose Newsom, but they could get in the governor’s mansion what leftists took to calling “the black face of white supremacy.”

Result: A panicked Democratic Party defeated the recall by nearly a 2-1 margin.

Not in 15 years has a Republican won statewide office. The congressional delegation has 53 members, and Democrats outnumber Republicans 42-11.

Richard Nixon carried his home state on all five presidential tickets he ran on, and Ronald Reagan never lost California. But the era that began when Barry Goldwater won the June 1964 primary against liberal Gov. Nelson Rockefeller is history.

Yet, everything is not coming up roses for President Joe Biden.

An Economist poll finds his approval rating underwater, with 49% disapproving of Biden’s performance in office to 46% in approval.

The latest Quinnipiac poll is more ominous. It has 50% of the country disapproving of the Biden presidency and only 42% approving, the first time his rating has fallen into negative territory.

When broken down by issues, the news is no better.

On his handling of the pandemic, Biden’s rating has plunged from 53% approval in August to 49% disapproval now. Fifty-five percent disapprove of his handling of his duties as commander in chief.

On the economy, Biden also gets a negative rating, with 42% approving and 52% disapproving.

With Biden’s numbers underwater overall and on the three major issues — the economy, foreign policy and his handling of the coronavirus — Democrats have to be looking nervously at November 2022.

Biden conceivably could pull off twin victories this fall in Congress — with passage of both the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package and the $3.5 trillion family infrastructure bill. If so, this would put him in the history books as a transformative president alongside Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson.

But Biden faces problems on many fronts.

First among them is the return of inflation. The soaring price of food and fuel is beginning to be felt. There is new skittishness in the markets. And the jobs picture is not as rosy as was anticipated this summer.

While the country credits the president for ending America’s longest war, the future news out of Afghanistan is likely to be filled with stories of the Americans left behind and Afghan allies facing executions.

The invasion across our southern border is now producing 220,000 border crossers every month.

Seventy percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of the U.S. Republicans and Democrats in Congress both get negative ratings from the American people. And only 37% of registered voters approve of the Supreme Court’s handling of its role. Half the country disapproves.

If all three branches of the U.S. government have lost or are losing the confidence of their countrymen, what does that suggest is the future for our democratic republic?