President Biden's job approval remained underwater (44% approve/49% disapprove/7% not sure) as he starts his second year in office. His numbers remained decent among men (48% approve/49% disapprove) but suffered among women (41% approve/50% disapprove). His approval rebounded with younger voters aged 18-29 (50% approve/40% disapprove), aged 18-24 (51% approve/41 disapprove), and college educated voters (55% approve/41% disapprove), but Biden's numbers continued to be dismal with non-college educated voters (36% approve/56% disapprove). Biden's job approval was down considerably in all these categories compared to our poll one year prior where he had started his term with a sky-high approval of 57%, while 37% disapproved among likely voters.
Joe Biden only appealed to voters in the East (51% approve/43% disapprove), while he struggled in the Central/Great Lakes region (36% approve/54% disapprove) but did decent in the South (46% approve/49% at disapprove) and West regions (46% approve/49% disapprove).
Biden's job approval was highest among African Americans (75% approve/23% disapprove) but dropped among Hispanics (52% approve/38% disapprove). He still had staunch support among self-identified Democrats (82% approve/13% disapprove) but his numbers were down ten percentage point from a year prior. The president's job approval rating was abominable with Independents (29% approve/58% disapprove). The previous year they were 46% approved/40% disapproved.
The president also received high marks from large city voters (66% approve/31% disapprove). President Biden did not fare as well in medium sized cities (40% approve/51% disapprove), small sized cities (34% approve/58% disapprove), suburban (44% approve/50% disapprove) and rural areas (26% approve/65% disapprove). His dismal job approval continued with urban women (46% approve/45% disapprove) and suburban women (40% approve/51% disapprove). Both were important groups that helped elevate Biden to winning key battle ground states and the presidency in 2020.
The groups who were not that favorable toward President Biden were voters over the age of 50, especially, voters aged 65+ (34% approve/60% disapprove). Biden's support among voters aged 50-64 was not much better (37% approve/57% disapprove). This is interesting and noteworthy because Biden did well against Trump in the 2020 presidential election with older voters, due to Trump's poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its deadly impact on the elderly population. Inflation cannot be helping the president either with older voters since they live on fixed incomes and are hit hardest by rising gas and food prices.
Vice President Kamala Harris' job approval has also taken a beating. Currently we have her numbers at 43% approve, 49% disapprove, and 9% of likely voters were not sure. A year ago, Harris polled at 53% approved and 37% disapproved, and 10% of voters were not sure. Vice President Harris was most popular in the East (50% approve/42% disapprove) and South regions (45% approve/48% disapprove). The vice president's job approval was lowest in the Central/Great Lakes region (37% approve/54% disapprove).
As expected, Vice President Kamala Harris performed decent among minorities, such as, Hispanics (51% approve/38% disapprove) and African Americans (67% approve/26% disapprove). She also made an impression with voters with college degrees (54% approve/40% disapprove), voters under the age of 50 (52% approve/39% disapprove) and self-identified Democrats (79% approve/14% disapprove).
Kamala Harris did not perform well with men (45% approve/50% disapprove), women (42% approve/47% disapprove), voters without college degrees (35% approve/55% disapprove), and lower income voters-household income less than $25K (35% approve/53% disapprove). The vice president performed better with upper income voters-household income greater than $150K (58% approve/37% disapprove). Her job approval was strong among large city voters (66% at approve/30% disapprove) but she was struggling with suburban voters (45% approve/50% disapprove) and suburban women (43% approve/48% disapprove).
While Harris is widely popular among Millennials (56% approve/35% disapprove) she struggled with the youngest group-Generation Z (47% approve/42% disapprove). Harris, like Biden, also struggled with voters over the age of 50 (35% approve/58% disapprove) and Baby Boomers (34% approve/61% disapprove).
As expected, Harris did not perform well with self-identified Republicans (16% approve/79% disapprove) and cratered with Independents (30% approve/54% disapprove).
Right now, Biden and Harris' job approval ratings are not particularly good, and they have dropped at least ten percentage points or more among most surveyed groups compared to last year. Could this be the end?
Neither the president nor vice president are exciting their base. Many important groups, such as women, suburban voters and Independents are not pleased with Biden and Harris. Those groups were very strategic in swing states they won that helped them secure the victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Right now, the only chance for Biden and Harris to rebound will be to pass their agenda and hope Michelle Obama does not enter the fray. That is "hope and change" for you!
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Zogby Analytics Poll Methodology
US Likely Voters
1/21/22 - 1/24/22
Zogby Analytics conducted an online survey of 897 likely voters in the US.
Using internal and trusted interactive partner resources, thousands of adults were randomly invited to participate in this interactive survey. Each invitation is password coded and secure so that one respondent can only access the survey one time.
Using information based on census data, voter registration figures, CIA fact books and exit polls, we use complex weighting techniques to best represent the demographics of the population being surveyed. Weighted variables may include age, race, gender, region, party, education, and religion. The party breakdown for this survey is as follows: 38% Democrat, 38% Republican and 24% Independent/unaffiliated.
Based on a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error for 897 is +/- 3.3 percentage points. This means that all other things being equal, the identical survey repeated will have results within the margin of error 95 times out of 100.
Subsets of the data have a larger margin of error than the whole data set. As a rule we do not rely on the validity of very small subsets of the data especially sets smaller than 50-75 respondents. At that subset we can make estimations based on the data, but in these cases the data is more qualitative than quantitative.
Additional factors can create error, such as question wording and question order.
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About Zogby Analytics:
Zogby Analytics is respected nationally and internationally for its opinion research capabilities. Since 1984, Zogby has empowered clients with powerful information and knowledge critical for making informed strategic decisions.
The firm conducts multi-phased opinion research engagements for banking and financial services institutions, insurance companies, hospitals and medical centers, retailers and developers, religious institutions, cultural organizations, colleges and universities, IT companies and Federal agencies. Zogby's dedication and commitment to excellence and accuracy are reflected in its state-of-the-art opinion research capabilities and objective analysis and consultation.