High prices have turned economic issues that could’ve been a re-election tailwind into a headwind
By Sabrina Siddiquiand Christian Robles
| Photographs by Kriston Jae Bethel for The Wall Street Journal
Updated July 22, 2023 at 12:01 am ET
PHILADELPHIA—President Biden stood at the lectern of a shipyard here with a familiar pitch as he seeks a second White House term: The economy remains strong.
“It’s not an accident, it’s my economic plan in action,” Biden told a crowd of mostly union workers Thursday at the latest stop on his nationwide record-burnishing tour. “Together, we’re transforming the country.”
But many voters aren’t buying it. They say they haven’t felt the impact of legislation that’s the centerpiece of Biden’s campaign, and they cite what may be his main albatross—inflation. High prices have turned economic issues that could’ve been a tailwind for his re-election into a headwind.
“Inflation’s terrible. Everything’s more expensive than it was,” said James Watson, 31 years old, an independent voter who manages a convenience store at a Philadelphia gas station.
Watson said he opposed former President Donald Trump, who is leading polls for the Republican presidential nomination, over his inflammatory comments on race and allegations of sexual assault. But he is likely to vote for a third-party candidate next year, as he did in 2020, because he’s concerned about Biden’s age and feels conditions in the country haven’t substantially improved since the 80-year-old took office.
That hesitation about Biden’s age and record explains why the incumbent is essentially tied in most polls with Trump, who remains unpopular and faces multiple criminal indictments, and why some Democrats worry a third-party ticket could attract enough swing votes to tip the election to the GOP.
Recent polls also show a disconnect between a buoyant labor market, which added 1.67 million jobs this year through June, and how voters feel about the economy. Robust consumer spending, inflation declining from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022 to 3% a year later and a stabilizing housing market have done little to move public perception on an issue that often ranks as a top priority for Americans at the ballot box.
A Monmouth University poll released Wednesday showed only three in 10 Americans feel the country is doing a better job recovering economically than the rest of the world since the Covid-19 pandemic. Respondents were split on Biden’s handling of jobs and unemployment, with 47% approving and 48% disapproving of his performance.
Many other surveys have also found voters giving Biden low marks on the economy. A Wall Street Journal poll in April found more people disapproved than approved of his handling of infrastructure by 3 points. Among those who were undecided in a hypothetical match between Biden and Trump, only 10% approved of Biden’s job performance on infrastructure whereas 70% disapproved.
