General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Top Pollster Trashes ABC/WaPo for Publishing 'Laughable' Poll... [View all]MyNameIsJonas
(744 posts)Most people don't pay attention to the narrative.
They do pay attention to their pocketbooks and that's what is really dinging Biden. Gas prices remain pretty high and the cost of living is still much higher today than 2020.
It's frustrating because much of it is out of his control but as president, he's likely to get the blame no matter what.
The one thing I've seen a lot the last couple years on places like tiktok is just how hard it is to live. So many people complaining about high rent and the cost of food.
That's how people view the economy and it's hard to break that perception because it's personal - not just media-driven.
When you can't afford rent or to fuel up your car or that the average price of everything feels almost 20% higher than the three years ago, you're probably not going to think the economy is all that good.
Is it Biden's fault? No. We're still dealing with the impacts of COVID and the supply chain crisis in 2021 & 2022. But it's not atypical to blame the president in these types of situations.
As for Biden's age, I only think the perceived state of the economy amplifies people's concern over it. If the economy was great, gas prices reasonably low and the price of goods not so high, they'd probably be more forgiving.
But 2024 is absolutely going to be a moods election. If the American people are still sour on the economy a year from now, it'll be very close.
Right now, the mood of the country is not good. You can blame the media but that's only half the issue here.