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When President Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to Congress Tuesday night, he’ll address a public that thinks the state of the union is a disaster.
A pair of new polls released Tuesday indicate Americans are deeply frustrated with Biden’s leadership, rising inflation, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic — as well as fearful about what may come from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
shows that a whopping 78 percent of Americans say they are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, with only 21 percent saying they are satisfied.
While the percentage of satisfied Americans has improved slightly since January, when it was at 17 percent, it’s still near its lowest point since Biden took office more than a year ago.
Americans’ satisfaction with the country peaked at 36 percent in May, but it has gone south ever since as the Delta and Omicron variants caused an uptick in COVID-19 cases while inflation hit consumers in the pocketbook as gas prices and the cost of groceries skyrocketed.
A CBS News/YouGov poll found similar levels of discontent, with 68 percent saying things in the US are going either “somewhat badly” or “very badly.”
Only 5 percent said things were going “very well,” with 27 percent saying all was “somewhat well.”
The Gallup poll was conducted in the first weeks of February, before Russia launched its invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24.
It shows that at the time the survey was taken, Americans’ top concerns were a lack of leadership (20 percent), the coronavirus pandemic (13 percent), the economy (11 percent) and inflation (10 percent).
Other top-of-mind issues included immigration (8 percent), uniting the country (6 percent), and race relations (4 percent). All other issues were rated at 3 percent or below, with relations with Russia the top concern of just 2 percent of respondents.
Since then, Russia’s assault on a sovereign nation has generated 24/7 headlines and has resulted in the US and nations around the world imposing wide-ranging sanctions intended to crush the Russian economy and erode the value of the ruble.
The CBS poll shows Americans who plan to watch Biden’s address are keen to hear more about Ukraine than the economy, inflation and COVID-19.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents who will watch the address (73 percent) say they want to hear the president talk about Ukraine, two-thirds (67 percent) want to hear about the economy, 61 percent want to hear about inflation and 52 percent want Biden to talk about the pandemic.
The survey also shows that Americans strongly oppose the Russian invasion and believe Vladimir Putin should face severe consequences.
More than three-quarters (76 percent) of respondents say the US should place economic sanctions on Russia, 75 percent say Putin should be slapped with the penalties personally, 65 percent say the US should send weapons and supplies to Ukraine, and 63 percent back sending troops to protect NATO allies in the region.
However, most Americans draw the line at sending US troops in — 71 percent oppose such a move, while 29 percent are OK with it.
The CBS poll puts Biden’s approval rating at 44 percent — down from a high of 62 percent in March — with 56 percent of respondents disapproving of his performance. By comparison, an ABC News/Washington Post survey released Sunday put the president’s approval at 37 percent, with 55 percent disapproving
Tuesday’s poll found that 41 percent of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of the European crisis, only slightly better than his marks on handling crime (39 percent), the economy (38 percent), immigration (37 percent) and inflation (30 percent).
And while 71 percent of Democrats give Biden high marks for his response to the standoff, 83 percent of Republicans and 65 percent of independents disapprove.
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