America sees an increase in consumer sentiment, but will this help Biden’s chances?

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 21th Jan

Jan 21 Gas costs are falling across the United States, groceries are becoming more affordable, and consumers are taking notice, according to a new survey.

In January, consumer sentiment increased dramatically to 78.8, the highest level since July 2021, according to a University of Michigan survey.

Will the good cheer persist, and will it be the predominant mood when voters go to the polls later this year? Or will they carry the lasting impacts of the record-breaking inflation that began in 2022 and throw doubt on President Joe Biden’s re-election prospects?

His approval rating stood at 39 per cent in a poll conducted by Gallup in December 2023, his third year in office.

Trump was at 45 percentin the December of his third year in office, Barack Obama was at 43, George W. Bush at 58, Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush were at 51, Ronald Reagan 54, Jimmy Carter 52, Richard Nixon 50 and Dwight Eisenhower was at the highest at 75.

And then, there is the matter of his age.

At 81, Biden is already the oldest American President, and if re-elected, he will be the oldest White House incumbent, which may not be reassuring to many voters.

His challenger in the contest, former President Donald Trump, has no discernible age advantage at 77, although claiming to be mentally more agile.

The biggest source of frustration for Biden’s staff has been inflation, which has eclipsed every accomplishment of the administration, including significant efforts to combat climate change and a substantial infrastructure investment that Trump had often promised but failed to deliver while in office. However, the sharp increase in costs everywhere, particularly at the petrol pump, was the main topic of conversation for everyone, and with good reason.

“The latest sign that President Biden’s economic plan is delivering results that more and more Americans are feeling, preliminary,” the White House declared with pride in reference to the University of Michigan study.

January saw a 13% increase in consumer sentiment, reaching its highest point in almost two years. According to the White House, this is “the biggest two-month jump in more than 30 years” as it has increased by 29% overall in the last two months.

The Biden administration continues by pointing out that January saw a further decline in inflation expectations, which reached their lowest points since 2020.

They also noted that all of this is happening at a time when the economy has created 14.3 million new jobs, the unemployment rate has been below 4% for the longest period of time in 50 years, inflation has decreased by about two-thirds from its peak, and wealth and salaries have surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

Still, the Biden team will be concerned about why the president’s popularity is not rising in light of these figures.

His consistently low numbers have been a source of frustration for the President and First Lady Jill Biden for months. Furthermore, he questioned his assistants about the rationale for the customary pardoning of turkeys during a White House function in November, as per a story in The Washington Post.

The degree of Biden’s popularity will directly affect not only his chances of winning reelection but also those of other Democrats running for office in the US Congress, state legislatures, and gubernatorial elections. The Democrats want to keep control of the Senate and seize the House of Representatives from the Republicans in Washington, D.C.

If Biden is re-elected, that will be essential to allowing him to pursue his objective; if not, it will impede Trump or any other Republican who wins.