New poll paints bleak picture for Dems heading into midterm elections

by ALEC SCHEMMEL | The National Desk

Mon, September 26th 2022, 6:05 PM UTC

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 21: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at U.N. headquarters on September 21, 2022 in New York City. During his remark, Biden condemned Russia for its invasion in Ukraine and discussed the United States investment in combatting climate change. After two years of holding the session virtually or in a hybrid format, 157 heads of state and representatives of government are expected to attend the General Assembly in person. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

People visit a booth set up by Fulton County to recruit new poll workers at the Alpharetta Farmers Market on Sept. 10, 2022, in Alpharetta, Ga. Lies about the integrity of the 2020 presidential contest by former President Donald Trump and his allies are spurring new interest in working the polls in Georgia and elsewhere in the nation for the upcoming midterm elections. (AP Photo/Sudhin Thanawala)

Carol Discher, a volunteer for the reelection campaign for Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, stacks yard signs in Toledo, Ohio, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Kaptur appeared with President Joe Biden during his July visit to Ohio but has since produced an ad saying she “doesn’t work for Joe Biden,” evidence of how some Democrats are struggling with how much to embrace -- or distance themselves -- from the president ahead of November’s midterm elections. (AP Photo/Will Weissert)

VIEW ALL PHOTOS

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 21: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at U.N. headquarters on September 21, 2022 in New York City. During his remark, Biden condemned Russia for its invasion in Ukraine and discussed the United States investment in combatting climate change. After two years of holding the session virtually or in a hybrid format, 157 heads of state and representatives of government are expected to attend the General Assembly in person. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (TND) — A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll painted a bleak picture for Democrats heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

According to the poll, among likely voters, Republicans hold a five-point lead over Democrats in generic congressional balloting.

Furthermore, the polling indicated just 35% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents favor Biden for the 2024 presidential nomination, while 56% want the party to pick someone else.

Midterm elections following a presidential election are often considered a referendum on the newly elected leader.

For comparison, in 2018, following the election of former President Donald Trump, 55% of the public wanted to see Congress controlled by Democrats, compared to 39% who wanted to see Republicans control it, the ABC/Washington Post poll pointed out.

Democrats won control of the House from the Republican Party in 2018, gaining a net total of 40 seats, according to Ballotpedia.

If it is a referendum on the president, they will lose. And they know that," former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on NBC's "Meet The Press" on Sunday. "They also know that crime is a huge vulnerability for Democrats, I would say one of the biggest vulnerabilities."

With roughly six more weeks until the midterm elections, Biden's public job approval rating has remained low, sitting currently at 39%

This election is a referendum on skyrocketing inflation, rampant crime, soaring murders, crushing gas prices, millions of millions of illegal aliens pouring across our border, race and gender indoctrination, perverting our schools, and above all, this election is a referendum on the corruption and extremism, of Joe Biden and the radical Democrat party," former-President Trump said during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month.

Biden has not indicated whether he plans to run for reelection in 2024, but according to former Clinton pollster Mark Penn, if Democrats lose their majority in Congress come November, he sees the chances of Biden running in 2024 to be very slim.

"Most Democrats don't want to see Joe Biden run for re-election. They don't support him. The ratings that he's getting nationally once they are below 40, it's a really, really difficult rating to sustain through the midterms," Penn said Monday morning on Fox News. "Joe Biden's come out swinging. He gave that speech, he's trying to get on the campaign trail. He knows his presidency is at stake in these midterms. If it's a wipeout, the chance he can run again, I think is nil. And if it's a miraculous Democratic comeback, I think he'll run again for president. And he knows that and that's why I think he's out there on the trail."

Loading ...