President Biden would lose Michigan and Georgia to former President Donald Trump if the 2024 election were held today, according to a survey of voters who give Mr. Biden lousy marks on the economy and say he’s too old for the job.
The poll released Monday by CNN could hardly be worse for the incumbent: Mr. Trump is leading Mr. Biden in Michigan by 10 points (50% to 40%) and 5 points in Georgia (49% to 44%). Mr. Biden won both swing states in 2020 on his way to capturing the White House.
The president’s job approval ratings in both battleground states are abysmal. In Michigan, 35% of voters approve of Mr. Biden, while in Georgia, 39% approve.
The economy and inflation are driving Mr. Biden’s weak numbers. Although inflation has moderated from its peak of 9.1% in June 2022 to just above 3% currently, it’s clear that voters are still feeling the pressure from higher prices and blame the president.
On the president’s handling of the economy, 56% of Michigan voters said Mr. Biden has made it worse, while 25% of respondents said he’s improved it. The results in Georgia were nearly identical. About 1 in 5 voters in each state said the president hasn’t affected the economy.
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The findings on a Trump-Biden general election matchup in Michigan are in line with a recent New York Times-Siena College poll, which found Mr. Biden trailing Mr. Trump there by 5 points.
The Biden-Harris campaign launched new TV ads in Michigan around Thanksgiving to highlight what it said were the president’s economic achievements, part of a $25 million ad buy. One of the ads emphasizes Mr. Biden’s middle-class background from Scranton, Pennsylvania. It says Mr. Biden “knows what life is like for working people. And knows middle-class life is too expensive right now.”
On Monday the president visited another battleground state, Pennsylvania, where he brought a $22 million grant to Philadelphia to reopen three fire stations and later held a campaign fundraiser. Mr. Biden devoted most of his comments to the threat posed by another Trump presidency, rather than talking about the economy.
“Donald Trump poses many threats in this country, from the right to choose, to civil rights, to voting rights, America’s standing in the world,” Mr. Biden told campaign supporters and donors. “The greatest threat he poses is for our democracy because if we lose that, we lose everything.”
White House spokesman Andrew Bates told reporters traveling with the president on Air Force One to Philadelphia, “President Biden has been working to protect American democracy and to unite people of all political views against these unprecedented threats we’ve seen to our democracy in recent years, since before Jan. 6th.”
Among the slivers of good news for Mr. Biden in the CNN poll was the potential legal consequences for Mr. Trump from any of the four criminal prosecutions he is facing. About half of voters in Georgia (47%) and Michigan (46%) say that, if true, the criminal charges Mr. Trump faces relating to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election should disqualify him from a second term.
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But the economy continues to hinder Mr. Biden’s reelection bid. A CBS News/YouGov poll released on Dec. 10 showed that 62% disapprove of Mr. Biden’s handling of the economy, while 38% approve. A recent poll conducted by Emerson College shows that 38% of young voters cite the economy as their top issue, while 15% said “threats to democracy” are their main concern, and 11% said immigration is their top issue.
“The financial concerns and emotional strain among younger voters regarding the cost of living are influencing their perception of President Biden’s leadership,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. “Some are losing confidence, not necessarily shifting to Trump, but exploring third-party options.”
While “Bidenomics” is a loser for the president in surveys, Mr. Biden’s party doesn’t even poll much higher than the GOP on the issue of saving democracy, the core of Mr. Biden’s reelection campaign. The president has slammed Mr. Trump at every campaign stop for his role in seeking to overturn the 2020 election results, including the attack by Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
But, when CNN asked voters in Michigan which party would do a better job at “protecting democracy in America,” there was no statistical difference — 38% favored the Democratic Party, and 37% said the Republican Party would do better. Another 24% of respondents said neither party would handle the task better.
In Georgia, 39% of respondents said Democrats would protect democracy better, 35% said Republicans would, and 24% said neither party.
Michigan is home to about 200,000 Muslim voters, one of the largest populations in the U.S. They overwhelmingly voted for Mr. Biden in 2020, but have been voicing dissatisfaction about his handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the lack of a permanent cease-fire.
The CNN poll found that 40% of respondents in Michigan said the U.S. is doing “the right amount” to help Israel, while 34% said the U.S. is doing “too much” for Israel and 24% said “too little.” Another 3% had no opinion.
At 81, Mr. Biden is the nation’s oldest president, and surveys have consistently shown that most Democrats want somebody else to be the party’s nominee next year. Among Michigan voters, 69% told CNN that Mr. Biden’s sharpness and stamina are “not what you want in a president,” while 25% said Mr. Biden is “close enough” and another 6% said the president’s fitness is exactly what they want.
As for the 77-year-old Mr. Trump, 40% of Michigan voters said his stamina and sharpness are not what they want in a president, while 29% said his fitness is exactly what they want and 27% said Mr. Trump is “close enough” to do the job.
Mr. Biden scored better than Mr. Trump on the issue of temperament. In Michigan, 51% of voters said Mr. Biden’s temperament is not what they want in a president, while 57% said the same of Mr. Trump.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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