President Biden campaigned for the nation's top office as a uniter. He lectured there were no Red or Blue States, just Americans. He promised an end to chaos. The adults were moving into Washington to fix America. After one year in office, there is more division, more chaos and less trust in government.
In poll after poll, Americans agree on just one issue: the country is hopelessly divided. In an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll published in October, eight in ten adults expressed dismay at the bitter division. A Pew Research poll found 85% of Americans are weary of the political divide.
A USA Today/Suffolk University poll found 66% of respondents think the U.S. is on the "wrong track", while just 20% believe it is going in the "right direction." This same poll put Mr. Biden's approval rating at 38%, one of the lowest levels recorded for the first year of a president's term.
Polls indicate a chasm has been expanding since the pandemic. Mr. Biden's vaccine mandates and demonization of the unvaccinated have split Americans into two camps, pitting those wanting to make their health decisions against those who believe government can dictate those choices.
When the president went to Georgia to deliver his roundly criticized speech on voting rights, he did not sound like a healer. Instead, he accused those who opposed his attempt to federalize elections as siding with racists, such as Bull Conner, George Wallace and Confederate president Jefferson Davis.
He could have included in that number former West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan at one time. But, Byrd was a Democrat, so he gets a pass. Mr. Biden eulogized Byrd's leadership, but forgot to mention the senator filibustered against the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Mr. Biden, who claimed at a news conference he achieved more in his first year than any other president, has presided over the most chaotic period in history. Inflation is spiraling, slapping a hidden tax on every American. His anti-fossil fuel policies spiked gas prices, hurting average households.
Food prices are ballooning. Apartment rents are soaring. Homes are becoming unaffordable for many Americans as prices skyrocket. COVID is still raging. The tide of illegal immigrants invading the southern border reached a peak in 2021. Empty shelves dot grocery stores in America.
Crime is sprinting to record levels in many states. Twelve major cities broke records, surpassing grim milestones in just the first 11 months of 2021. Chicago led the nation with 739 homicides, followed by Philadelphia (521) New York (443) and Los Angeles (352). FBI data for 2021 is not available.
Real wage growth for workers is down by 1.0% since February 2020 when inflation is taken into account. The president likes to brag that workers hourly pay has increased 4.8%. However, inflation zoomed to 7% in December, the highest rate of price increases in nearly 40 years.
Americans have seldom faced such dire circumstances. It is unnerving, especially for younger generations. Americans are less optimistic about this year than their counterparts in other developed countries; a trend documented in polls.
In a recent Ipsos Tracking Poll, Americans want Mr. Biden to focus on the economy, the pandemic, jobs, immigration, crime and unifying the nation, in that order. Yet Mr. Biden is currently championing voter rights and a multi-trillion dollar entitlement expansion, issues that aren't on Americans' radar.
His plummeting poll numbers reinforce the fact the president has failed to connect with working Americans. He has chosen the path of deferring to the elitists--big donors, wealthy climate activists, the progressive base, unions and racial demagogues--instead of the average Joes he claims to identify with.
Democrat strategists insist the problem is Mr. Biden's achievements have not been recognized in the face of unprecedented challenges. But that's a smokescreen. The issue is Mr. Biden's priorities do not align with what most Americans care about: the economy, inflation, jobs, crime, immigration.
Little wonder Americans trust in government plunged to its lowest levels in 2021. A National Election Study found only about one-quarter (24%) of Americans say they can trust the government in Washington will do what is right either always or most of the time.
Political allies are urging Mr. Biden to change his messaging and leave the White House to talk directly with Americans. That may be the worst advice ever delivered to a president by his own party. Unless Mr. Biden jettisons his current policies, chaos and destructive division will become the new normal.
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