Op-Ed
RNC Spokesperson Paris Dennard
By now you have seen the daily reports of President Biden and Vice President Harris’ sinking poll numbers. This is not some isolated occurrence from one poll: there have been a series of polls that are all coming to the same conclusion. The Biden-Harris administration is missing the mark and letting down the American people. Their support is eroding rapidly as a result.
A recent poll from HIT Strategies highlighted something the mainstream media certainly does not want to talk about. Black Americans, a tried-and-true voting block for the Democrat Party and one of the key constituencies for Biden, are contributing to the President’s tanking approval numbers.
This is not surprising given where we are today as a nation and how the Black community at large is weathering this Biden-Harris storm. Things are not good, and for too many things are getting worse.
While the administration once tried to push a false narrative saying that rising inflation was “transitory” and temporary, we now have experts saying the opposite. Americans will be ringing in the new year with prices continuing to rise.
That means we can expect to see prices for everything your family needs and wants to remain high. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor announced last week that consumer prices rose by 6.8% last month. That increase is the largest annual surge in 39 years.
On top of all that, real average hourly earnings decreased by 1.9%. So the next time you hear President Biden make the claim that wages are up, know that it’s 100% false.
Most troubling? The reality that Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration seem unbothered by lower income Americans, including many minorities, suffering through this crisis the most. 71 percent of households making less than $40,000 are experiencing financial hardship due to Biden’s hidden tax on Americans this year.
It is no wonder that HIT Strategies BlackTrack poll results “underscore the economic hardship many Black voters face and offer insight into Biden’s declining approval numbers among Black voters…Economic anxiety and frustration among Black Voters are among the potential causes of Biden’s and Democrats’ sagging approval numbers among Black voters.”
On the question “generally speaking, are you very satisfied, satisfied, dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied with the direction in which the country is headed?” Black voters reported less satisfaction than previous months.
When asked if they approved or disapproved of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as President of the United States, Biden’s overall approval rating from Black voters declined.
When Black voters were asked if their lives have improved under President Biden, the percentage has consistently gone down and those saying it has gotten worse has gone up during the same time frame.
In a recent Forbes article, Willie Cousins said “When it comes to the issues that I care about, like voting rights, police reform, and human infrastructure, President Biden is doing a poor job,” Cousins said. “Every day prices are getting higher and even though I have seen a small increase in my wages, I’m still having to pay more for the basic necessity to keep my family thriving.”
Cousins’ experience and sentiments are like so many other Black Americans today. It is hard, and yet the Democrats seems to be tone deaf, out of touch, and doing nothing to fix it. When it comes to the border and the drugs pouring over and into our cities, they have failed.
When it comes to the increased violence, murders, and burglaries plaguing Democrat-run cities, you see Democrat officials still pushing to defund the police and supporting bail for the evil perpetrators hurting the innocent.
The global pandemic is still not under control and yet the Biden-Harris administration continues to push the same policies that have not worked and are actually doing more harm than good. Forced vaccine mandates are giving too many Black Americans the pink slip just in time for Christmas and the New Year.
Biden will continue to see his poll numbers tank because he is failing to understand how hard it is for so many Americans feeling left behind and forgotten once again.
Cousins put it best: “President Joe Biden needs to come and talk to the Black community and tell us what he is working on and how it will impact our families, neighborhoods and communities, we have endured a lot during this pandemic, and some of us are still trying to fight our way out. We want our elected leaders to understand that and fight with us, and sometimes it feels like they aren’t fighting hard enough.”
The Democrats in charge of the White House, the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and many cities just don’t get it. Joe Biden is too disconnected from reality to understand that he is literally pushing policies that will build the Black community to broke. The poll that matters most is the one on election day, and come November 2022 the vote for economic security, education, prosperity, and public safety will not be a vote for Democrats because they don’t have a plan.
The Republican party will continue to show up, propose empowering policies, earn your vote, earn your approval, win back Congress, and put the American people first.
Paris Dennard is the National Spokesperson and Director of Black Media Affairs for the Republican National Committee (RNC). Follow him on Twitter: @PARISDENNARD.ds
