President Biden's handling of the Ukraine crisis hasn’t boosted his overall political standing as voters worry about inflation, a new Wall Street Journal poll finds, troubling signs for the party as it seeks to extend its controlling majority of Congress for another two years, reports Michael C. Bender.
The new survey showed that 57% of voters remained unhappy with Mr. Biden’s job performance, despite favorable marks for the president’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a recent State of the Union speech. Just 42% said they approved of Mr. Biden’s performance in office.
A majority of voters, 63%, said they disapproved of Mr. Biden’s handling of rising costs, the president’s worst rating on six policy issues surveyed in the poll. Meanwhile, 47% of voters said Republicans were better able to handle inflation, compared with 30% who preferred Democrats.
One bright spot for Democrats in the Journal poll: Mr. Biden’s handling of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some 50% of voters said they approved of how the president has dealt with Russia, compared with 44% who disapproved. Asked a separate question on their view of how Mr. Biden has handled the crisis in Ukraine , 47% of voters said they approved and 46% disapproved.