Slightly less than half (49%) of surveyed voters thought President Biden had done more to divide the country than unite it (39%), while 13% were unsure.
There were differences when it came to the demographics of the surveyed voters. Regionally, voters in the South (36% unite/54% divide) and Central/Great Lakes (33% unite/52% divide) regions thought President Biden had done more to divide the country, while a plurality of voters in the East region (36% unite/48% divide) felt the same way. A majority of voters in the West region (51% unite/37% divide) felt Biden had united the country.
Biden has historically performed well with younger voters aged 18-24 (25% unite/52% divide) and 18-29 (28% unite/55% divide), but a majority of each sub-group felt his actions as President had divided the country more than unite it (25% and 28%, respectively). In a turn of events younger and older voters-aged 50-64 (37% unite/52% divide) and aged 65+ (31% unite/54% divide), agreed on a rare occasion, as they both thought Biden had done more to divide the country than unite it.
More women (37% unite/47% divide) and men (40% unite/50% divide) felt the president had done more to divide the country than unite it. College educated voters (45% unite/44% divide) were split while non-college educated voters (34% unite/52% divide) were more likely to think Biden divided the country.
Two thirds of Democrats (67% unite/15% divide) thought the president had done more to unite the country than divide it, while four in five Republicans (13% unite/82% divide) thought Biden did more to divide the country. Only a third of Independents (33% unite/48% divide) thought President Biden did more to unite the country while nearly half thought the president was divisive.
Hispanics (39% unite/46% divide) felt President Biden had done more to divide the country than unite it, as did white voters (36% unite/53% divide), but African Americans (55% unite/28% divide) still felt Biden was doing his part to unite the country.
A majority of large city voters (54% unite/27% divide) thought Biden united the country, while small city voters (30% unite/58% divide), suburbanites (34% unite/55% divide) and rural voters (29% unite/61% divide) thought the opposite.
When we get granular with the sub-groups and examine gender and where voters live, women from urban (40% unite/42% divide), suburban (37% unite/48% divide) and rural (25% unite/62% divide) settings were not enthusiastic about Biden's ability to unite the country.
Over the last six months we have seen in our polling evidence Biden is losing steam with major parts of his base, specifically: younger voters aged 18-29, women (both suburban and urban) and Hispanics. To make things worse his numbers are also down with college educated voters.
While Biden has had some luck as of late, including signing a major piece of legislation in the Inflation Reduction Act, he has work to do if is going to hit the campaign trail for Democrats. Besides the looming midterm election, Biden's vulnerabilities might also present a chance for Democrats to trade in Biden for a fresher face, such as, California Governor Gavin Newsom for 2024.
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Zogby Analytics Poll Methodology
US Likely Voters
5/23/22 - 5/24/22
Zogby Analytics conducted an online survey of 1,100 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 1,100 is +/- 3.0 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.