Donald Trump would be on track to win a historic landslide in November ā€” if so many US voters didnā€™t find him personally repugnant.

Roughly 53 percent of Americans have anĀ unfavorable opinionĀ of the former president. And yet, when asked about Trumpā€™s ability to handle key issues ā€” or the impact of hisĀ policiesĀ ā€”Ā voters routinelyĀ giveĀ the Republican candidate higher marks thanĀ President Biden.

In aĀ YouGov surveyĀ released this month, Trump boasted an advantage over Biden on 10 of the 15 issues polled. On the three issues that votersĀ routinely nameĀ as top priorities ā€” theĀ economy, immigration, and inflation ā€” respondents said that Trump would do a better job by double-digit margins.

Meanwhile, in aĀ recent New York Times/Siena College poll,Ā 40 percent of voters said that Trumpā€™s policies had helped them personally, while just 18 percent said the same of Biden. If Americans could elect a normal human being with Trumpā€™s reputation for being ā€œtoughā€ on immigration and good at economics, they would almost certainly do so.

Biden is fortunate that voters do not have that option. But to erase Trumpā€™sĀ small but stubborn leadĀ in the polls, the president needs to erode his GOP rivalā€™s advantage on the issues.

  • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Presidents canā€™t just make laws without going through Congress, despite what pretty much every news media organization likes to imply. For two years Biden had an obstructionist Senate and now itā€™s the obstructionist House.

    To your point though, I think Democrats could do a better job promoting all the changes they would make. Say youā€™ll ā€œenshrine the right to an abortionā€ into law, say youā€™ll establish a minimum wage that keeps up with inflation, say youā€™ll let doctors heal and teachers teach, say youā€™ll take the title away from China as the leader in renewable energy, and for fuck sake say youā€™ll stop kowtowing to the Israeli government.

      • Bernie_Sandals@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Your point being? Strong presidential talk at the State of the Union does not give them the power to pass laws without congress.

        • OlPatchy2Eyes@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          I was responding to the second paragraph where they said that Democrats need to message better. I believe a lot of the topics they gave as examples that the Democrats could push in their messaging was in the State of the Union.

          • Bernie_Sandals@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Oh, alright, my bad, the State of the Union was definitely some of the best messaging Iā€™ve seen of a united democratic party Iā€™ve seen in a while.