President Biden’s policy agenda is incredibly popular, much more popular than his opponent’s. But Biden the man? Not so much.

The question now is whom to blame for the approval gap between the president and his agenda: voters, the media or Biden himself.

Democrats have long argued that their policies are more popular than those of Republicans. In a recent blind test conducted by YouGov, that was unmistakably true. The polling organization asked Americans what they thought about major policies proposed by Biden and Donald Trump without specifying who proposed them. The idea was to see how the public perceived ideas when stripped of tribal associations.

Biden’s agenda was the winner, hands down.

Of the 28 Biden proposals YouGov asked about, 27 were supported by more people than opposed them. Impressively, 24 received support from more than 50 percent of respondents.

  • exanime@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    52
    arrow-down
    6
    ·
    4 months ago

    It doesn’t matter. The average voter is functionally illiterate.

    They’d vote for the candidate “they’d have a beer with”. They can’t understand anything about policy

    • MimicJar@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      25
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      4 months ago

      To be fair “have a beer with” is about trust.

      If I can’t sit down with you, have a beer, and enjoy myself, I can’t trust you. A president is going to encounter unknown challenges and I need to trust them to solve it.

      That being said Trump fails that test immediately. There is no version of “having a beer” with Trump where I could trust him.

      Biden however? If you asked the average American what they know about Biden one of the top three answers is “having a beer”, it’s called “grabbing an ice cream” but the principal is the same.

      • exanime@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        16
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        4 months ago

        To be fair “have a beer with” is about trust.

        As evaluated by a college freshman. I can think of a ton of people I have encountered whom I have trusted with money, repairs, my health and I would not enjoy a beer with them

        I understand the question is to reduce a complex issue to a binary answer; but I’m afraid too many people take it literally and cannot evaluate a candidate any further

        • MimicJar@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          4 months ago

          I completely agree, it’s a simple metric and one that charisma plays a role in. If that’s all you use to judge someone it’s going to be a small part of the story.

      • John Richard@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        6
        ·
        4 months ago

        I think you meant to say ass cream. It is the stuff you rub on once Mossad shows up with their material and makes you a puppet of Israel.

    • WolfLink@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      I’m pretty sure I’d have a better time having a beer with Biden, even if he’s asleep, than Trump.

    • hark@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      If the average voter is so stupid, why can’t the democrats figure out how to appeal to them? Are democrats just too smart? Well I guess we’re going to smart our way into fascism then!

      • John Richard@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        14
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        First, Democrats like to think the other side is stupid. Trump is not stupid. Trump is malicious. Democrats are stupid when they underestimate their enemies.

        Trump is a product of religious nationalism whose leaders have joined together and confirmed what many Democrats have known for decades, that a majority of churches in America are nothing more than a cult.

        Trump represents that group who wants authority to brainwash and traumatize a large percentage of American people into their cult. They want to integrate religion and law so that you don’t have a choice anymore about what you believe and neither will your kids.

        The leaders of the Trump cult don’t actually believe in the Bible. Trump is just a tool to maintain their wealth and power. You can’t maintain a cult when you’re followers are able to think rationally.

        Biden is being selfish. He knows the polls are showing he’s going to lose. He knows people never voted for him, but instead they voted no to Trump (who represents religious nationalism). Biden should have never ran a second term. He was never popular. The only thing that was popular was Trump not winning.

        If the polls are showing the cult has suckered more people in and he’s going to lose, maybe we should find a candidate that tbose considering joining the cult can relate to… That gives them hope, inspiration, and that appears strong and admirable on the outside.

        • exanime@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          4 months ago

          Trump is not stupid. Trump is malicious

          Trump is both… If Trump were as smart as a hamster, we would all be fucked by now.

          Trump is hailed up by smarter people who know anonymity is power and realize they can achieve their goals while putting Trump in the spotlight. Trump is so dumb and so narcissistic, he is happy to tag along for the ride

          Imo, later (sooner already passed) Trump will wind up assassinated or in some form of house arrest while his family will be ultra fucked. Unfortunately, we will all pay the price of not stoping his backers earlier on

        • Freefall@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          4 months ago

          trump is legitimately a stupid person. He is good at threatening and has some weird charisma that works on scum, but he is high-functioning moron.

      • exanime@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        4 months ago

        No, your average politician probably a little stupid but massively put of touch.