It feels good finally to be declared “President-elect Joe Biden” by the Electoral College.
More proof: The latest Zogby poll shared with Secrets this morning put Biden’s approval rating at 61%, higher than President Trump’s and higher than when Barack Obama and then-Vice President-elect Joe Biden entered office 12 years ago.
In fact, Obama’s entering approval rating of 52% is about equal to Trump’s exit rating of 51%, which is among the highest of his presidency.
Zogby Analytics pollster Jonathan Zogby’s analysis found that with nearly every group, Biden had a positive approval rating.
“As Biden enters the Oval Office with a strong job approval as president-elect, he is no doubt in his honeymoon phase,” he said.
Zogby provided perspective. “Biden has all the advantages to succeed for four years, but banking on incoming popularity does not guarantee success. Ask Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Both entered the Oval Office and were immediately in the middle of crises. Biden already has the biggest crisis in U.S. history to contend with. The people believe he can do the job, but only Father Time knows for sure if Biden can deliver the goods,” said the analysis.
Biden’s approval was strongest among young, Western, and rich voters. He also scores well with black, Hispanic, and big-city voters.
Where he trails is among Republicans and rural voters, which is no surprise since he lost those groups in the election.
Trump’s numbers were also impressive when compared to the historically low approval ratings he’s had over the past four years.
Notable in the Zogby poll was that Trump has a 30% approval rating among Democrats.
In fact, his broad approval ratings by most groups polled by Zogby show that he has a good base to run on again, though it appears that Biden is picking off part of the Trump base.
Said Zogby, “As the reality for Trump sets in that he is leaving office, unceremoniously, and will become a pedestrian for at least for the next four years, he leaves office much the same as he came in, the ‘chaos candidate.’ Trump remains defiant and insists the election results were rigged by Democrats to favor Joe Biden. This could be his rallying cry to become the Republican nominee in 2024. The only problem for Trump is that he needs to shore up more support among his base, some of which are more favorable of President-elect Biden now.”
