(CNN) One year out from the 2022 midterm elections, 58% of Americans say President Joe Biden hasn’t paid enough attention to the nation’s most important problems, as a majority disapproves of the way he’s handling his job as President, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS. More than a third of Americans call the economy the most pressing problem facing the country (36%). Among the group that sees it that way, 72% say Biden hasn’t been attentive to the right issues. That dynamic is reversed among the smaller 20% who consider the coronavirus pandemic the nation’s top problem: 79% in that subset say Biden has had the right priorities, while 21% not. All told, 48% of adults approve of the way Biden is handling the job while 52% disapprove. Intensity within those ratings breaks sharply against the President. The share saying they strongly approve of Biden’s performance has dropped to just 15%, down from 34% in April. Although CNN does not ask strength of approval in every poll, that number never dipped below 20% during the presidencies of either Barack Obama or Donald Trump.
In the new poll, 36% say they strongly disapprove of Biden’s handling of the presidency, and that figure is about the same as it was when CNN last asked strength of approval in April, suggesting the drop in approval over the last few months has been driven more by disappointment among his original supporters than an expansion of the group that started off strongly opposed to his presidency.
The poll was completed November 1 through 4, before the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
The nearly 6 in 10 who say Biden hasn’t had the right priorities is similar to the share who felt that way about Trump in September 2017 (59%) and who said the same about Obama in January 2010 (55%). Both presidents’ parties suffered significant losses in Congress in the midterm elections held during the second year of their time in office.
By Jennifer Agiesta and Ariel Edwards-Levy
