BY SABRINA SIDDIQUI AND CATHERINE LUCEY · 5 Set 2023
Voters overwhelmingly think President Biden is too old to run for re-election and give him low marks for handling the economy and other issues important to their vote, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll that offers a stark warning to the 80-year-old incumbent ahead of the 2024 contest.
The negative views of Biden’s age and performance in office help explain why only 39% of voters hold a favorable view of the president. In a separate question, some 42% said they approve of how he is handling his job, well below the 57% who disapprove.
And Biden is tied with former President Donald Trump in a potential rematch of the 2020 election, with each holding 46% support in a head-to-head test.
The Journal survey, while pointing to a large set of challenges Biden faces in persuading voters that he deserves reelection, also finds weaknesses in his likely opponent. Voters in the survey rated Trump as less honest and likable than Biden, and a majority viewed Trump’s actions after his 2020 election loss as an illegal effort to stop Congress from declaring Biden the proper winner.
“Voters are looking for change, and neither of the leading candidates is the change that they’re looking for,” said Democratic pollster Michael Bocian, who conducted the survey with Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio.
Although the candidates are only three years apart, 73% of voters said they feel Biden is too old to seek a second term, compared with 47% of voters who said the same of the 77year-old Trump. Two-thirds of Democrats said Biden was too old to run again.
By an 11-point margin, more voters see Trump rather than Biden as having a record of accomplishments as president— some 40% said Biden has such a record, while 51% said so of Trump. By an eight-point margin, more voters said Trump has a vision for the future. And by 10 points, more described Trump as mentally up to the presidency. Some 46% said that is true of Trump, compared with 36% who said so of Biden.
Biden is viewed more favorably than Trump on some personal characteristics. Some 48% of voters said Biden is likable, compared with 31% for Trump. Some 45% viewed Biden as honest, while 38% said so of Trump.
“If this race is about personality and temperament, then Biden has an advantage. If this race is about policies and performance, then Trump has the advantage,” said Fabrizio, who also polls for a super PAC supporting Trump’s candidacy.
The numbers come as Biden has spent months traveling the country promoting his economic record and legislative achievements, including major investments in infrastructure, clean energy and technology. The president has also touted job growth and higher wages under his watch, with data showing that the broader economy remains strong and inflation has cooled to its lowest rate in about two years. Unemployment remains near a 50year low.
But 58% of voters say the economy has gotten worse over the past two years, whereas only 28% say it has gotten better, and nearly three in four say inflation is headed in the wrong direction. Those views were echoed in the survey by large majorities of independents, a group that helped deliver Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential race. Voters were almost evenly split on the direction of the job market.
“I think the economy might be doing good for some people but, for folks who are in the middle, we are kind of squeezed,” said Shivkumar Singh, an IT manager in Okemos, Mich., and father of three.
Singh, 53, is an independent who voted for Biden in 2020 because he didn’t like Trump’s personal demeanor. But he now has questions about Biden’s abilities and is undecided between the two men.
Biden campaign aides note that it is very early in the race and that most voters aren’t yet plugged in to the general election. They say the public supports the federal investments in infrastructure, climate and the semiconductor industry that he championed.
“Wages are growing faster than inflation. This didn’t just happen. We made it happen,” Biden said Monday in a Labor Day rally before union members in Philadelphia.
The poll was conducted after Trump was indicted for a fourth time, with a grand jury in Atlanta last month charging him with allegedly operating a criminal enterprise that sought to overturn Biden’s electoral victory in Georgia. That followed indictments over allegedly illegal efforts to maintain power after losing the 2020 election, his handling of classified documents after leaving office and the payment of hush money to a porn star. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Among registered voters, 37% said the indictments made them less likely to vote for Trump, compared with 24% who said it made them more likely to vote for the former president. Some 35% said the indictments made no difference to their vote.
The poll of 1,500 registered voters was conducted Aug. 24-30 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. Respondents were reached by cellphone, landline phone and by text with an invitation to take the survey online.