A MAJORITY of Americans approve of the way President Joe Biden is doing his job as the 46th president of the United States. More than four months in his presidency and past the goalposts of his first 100 days in office, Biden’s approval is hovering just above 60%.
Despite the political divide that has polarized the nation in the most toxic way, especially in the last four years, this remarkable review of Biden’s leadership goes beyond the Office of the President and the Executive Department, spreading the “virus” of favorability and optimism to our political institutions.
The branch of government that Americans did not have high regard for appears to begin to regain the people’s trust and favorability, the poll suggests. “Fifty-five percent of respondents said they approve of the Democratic Party, up from 53% last month.
Meanwhile, approval of the GOP ticked up to 49% from 46% at the end of April”, according to the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.
While there is a lot of work to do in government, I would like to look at the glass more than half full, as this suggests that we are now taking baby steps toward reclaiming the soul of America — the United States, and NOT the “divided states” of America. These baby steps spring from what appears to be the coming back of respect, decency, trust, honesty and trustworthiness — five important pillars that build relationships and strengthen unity.
Thank God for Biden’s leadership by example.
The 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump was so obsessed with ratings and had an insatiable longing to be loved and accepted. Yet, he failed to see that running the country as president is not the same as producing and starring in a reality show. Nor did he have an epiphany that it is not the same as running a business.
Trump governed the country like he ran his shows — full of nail-biting cliffhangers, suspense and unpredictability. He was a showman who used and abused his gift of performing before an audience and elicited strong emotions like anger, doubt, mistrust and narcissistically packaged himself as a “Messiah.” He would argue ”nobody does it better than Donald Trump” or that he is “the likes of which the world has never seen before.”
Trump ran the country like one of his businesses, personal interests and agenda [and bankruptcy was among his options]. He thought he could only be accountable to himself and perhaps his stockholders and make his own rules that he was only entitled to break. It was not his style nor within his principles to answer probing questions truthfully without attacking those who question and criticize him without retaliating and having a vendetta.
He failed to reconcile with facts and the truth if they did not support his narrative, agenda, and the “brand,” the persona he created of himself, including the fact that as president, his job is to serve the people, and not for the government and the people to serve him and his own agenda.
How did Trump’s and Biden’s approval ratings compare to their predecessors in recent history? According to Fortune.com in its April 21, 2021 report:
“How does the approval rating of President Joe Biden—who’s been in office 92 days—stack up to past occupants at the same time in their presidencies?
As of Wednesday, 53.4% of Americans approve of Biden, according to FiveThirtyEight’s aggregation of leading pollsters. Meanwhile, 40.1% of Americans disapprove of the job he’s doing in the White House.
After his first three months, Biden approval rating is higher than Donald Trump’s (41.9%) and Bill Clinton’s (52.9%) approvals were at the same point in their presidencies. However, it’s lower than the approval ratings of Barack Obama (60.2%), George W. Bush (56.2%), and Ronald Reagan (67.6%) at the 92-day mark.”
Biden became president during the worst possible time in history. He ran for president to serve the American people, and the wind beneath his wings is to help the country reclaim the soul of America and to help us all rebuild our lives and our country better and stronger.
His calm, steady, conscientious and science/facts-based leadership is grounded on the principles that his success is dependent on his ability to bring out the better angels in us, the people, and in government, so that we can all do our share in making our nation a more perfect union, surmounting and coming out victorious after whatever battles we face together as one nation, one people, and as part of the bigger global community.
Let the results of the study speak for themselves:
“Buoyed by his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and improving views of the U.S. economy, according to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill.
Overall, 62% of respondents said they either strongly or somewhat approve of the job Biden is doing in the White House, while 38 percent said they disapprove.
By comparison, former President Trump scored 45% approval in a May 2017 Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.
Biden gets his highest marks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with 70% saying they like the job he’s done so far to rein in the outbreak.
But he also performs well among voters when it comes to his stewardship of the economy and stimulating jobs, garnering 62% approval on each front. Nearly as many — 61% — said they approve of how he is administering the government.
Biden gets his worst reviews on his handling of immigration, though a majority — 53% — still say they approve of how he’s handling the matter.
Biden’s steady approval rating tracks with improving perceptions of the U.S. economy. In total, 56% of respondents said they view the economy as “strong,” up more than 10 points since January.
Likewise, the percentage of Americans who say their personal finances are improving has risen 5 points since January to 33%, while the percentage who say that things are getting worse has dropped from 28% to 23% in the same time span.
Still, a majority of respondents — 54% — attribute the improving economic conditions to the widespread distribution of coronavirus vaccines. About 46% say that the policies of the Biden administration are responsible for the brightening outlook.“
More details of the poll findings will be published later this week.
The high approval rating of Biden is corroborated by FiveThirtyEight.
“How popular/(unpopular) is Joe Biden?”, the report asked. An updating calculation of the president’s approval rating, accounting for each poll’s quality, recency, sample size and partisan lean showed that as of May 25, 2021, 54.7% of Americans approved, while 40.2% disapprove of Biden’s job performance as President.
As the nation is on track to defeat COVID-19, and the economy has been strong and robust, people’s freedom and liberties are slowly but surely coming back based on science and facts. Ordinary hardworking Americans have found their voices and their power as a people again, regaining the esteem of the world in our leadership again.
Aren’t we grateful the Trump presidency is over? We, the people, made this happen.
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at [email protected], or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos.
