Living in Mississippi, you’d think Joe Biden’s approval ratings could never eclipse 30%. Located in one of the most solidly red states in the country, the University of Mississippi is unsurprisingly one of the most conservative campuses in the country. On campus, you’re much more likely to hear negative opinions about the current president than positive ones, which can skew perceptions about how people nationwide really feel about the new administration. In the conservative bubble of Oxford, Mississippi, it’s easy to fall into a mindset that Biden is widely hated everywhere, that it’s just the norm. Usually, this would be inaccurate.
According to new approval rating polls, however, the opinions about Biden on our campus seem to mirror the country’s more than ever before. Biden’s accumulated approval rating currently sits at 43.5%, a new low for his administration at a time where most presidents see their approval ratings rise due to policy implementation (not the Trump presidency though, which stayed steadily around 40% throughout the entire administration and only ever briefly achieved a 45.8% peak approval rating). While the substantial majority of Biden’s detractors likely share the conservative views popular on our campus, the new low in Biden’s approval ratings instead comes from discontent among key voting blocs that won him the 2020 election, notably women, young people, African Americans and Latinos.
After the calamitous withdrawal from Afghanistan that rocked headlines, the Biden administration faced increased criticism and a decline in the polls. His biggest problem stands as failing to deliver upon the most essential promise he made during the election: to repair the damage done by the Trump administration. Biden’s bipartisan police reform plan has failed in the Senate and his $3.5 trillion (projected over 10 years) Build Back Better plan — a joint bill that includes legislation to overhaul infrastructure, address climate change, bolster labor unions, reform education and make the wealthiest companies and individuals pay for it — has similarly failed to overcome Washington gridlock.
While the individual policies in the Build Back Better plan are very popular among members of the public, many are distraught that the Biden administration has made next to no progress on making these policies a reality. With the rate that the negotiations are going, if America ever does see the Build Back Better plan in action, it will likely be so watered down from Congressional compromise that no one will be happy with the result — the signature move of the Democratic party.
Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election because people in this country are finally starting to demand real, intensive change in the structures and processes of American democracy and society, but they may have staked their hopes on the wrong person. While Biden’s policy proposals hint that change may be possible, the realities of an incredibly divided Washington make that change seem more distant and unreachable than ever before. Perhaps Biden voters listened to the wrong campaign promises and should have paid more attention to when Joe Biden said that “nothing will fundamentally change,” once he was elected into office. I think he has a better chance of delivering that promise to voters than any other.
Hal Fox is a sophomore majoring in Chinese and international studies from Robert, LA.
