Eunomia

Eunomia

Share this post

Eunomia
Eunomia
Biden's Bleak Re-Election Prospects

Biden's Bleak Re-Election Prospects

The record shows that incumbents with approval ratings in the 30s lose their reelection bids.

Daniel Larison's avatar
Daniel Larison
May 02, 2024
∙ Paid
13

Share this post

Eunomia
Eunomia
Biden's Bleak Re-Election Prospects
14
5
Share

The president is going into the general election campaign with the lowest average approval rating on record:

President Joe Biden averaged 38.7% job approval during his recently completed 13th quarter in office, which began on Jan. 20 and ended April 19. None of the other nine presidents elected to their first term since Dwight Eisenhower had a lower 13th-quarter average than Biden.

It doesn’t augur well for the incumbent to have approval ratings consistently below 40%. The record shows that incumbents with approval ratings in the 30s lose their reelection bids. When the president is seeking reelection, the main question before voters is whether he has earned another term in office. Biden hasn’t sold the voting public on the idea that he has. There may no longer be time to make the sale.

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Daniel Larison
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share