McLaughlin Poll: Biden's Approval Falling, Trump Remains Clear 2024 Favorite

The McLaughlin & Associates October National Poll of 1,000 likely voters, conducted between Oct. 14-18, shows that while President Joe Biden's policies are plunging America and the economy into misery, Biden and the Democrats' poll numbers are falling even further with each disastrous proposal they put forth.

This means, as our M&A poll indicates, Republicans should be looking positively toward midterm elections. Likewise, if former President Donald Trump runs in 2024, the GOP nominee and his victory in the presidential general election is all but guaranteed.

To start, our polling showed that nearly six in 10 voters, 59%, now say America is on the wrong track. That pessimism includes 66% of independents, 56% of Hispanics, 61% of women, 64% of suburban voters, 50% of moderates, 60% of congressional undecided voters, and even 31% of 2020 Biden voters.

Only 38% say we're headed in the right direction. As we showed last month, after the surrender of Afghanistan, President Biden's job approval flipped from positive to negative. This month, Joe Biden's approval rating is still declining.

President Biden's job disapproval-approval among likely voters is 54% to only 45%. This is a decline of another net -4 points since last month. That's significantly less than the 51% of the voters in the poll who say they voted for Biden last November.

Moreover, almost one in five 2020 Biden voters, 18%, now disapprove of the job he's doing as president.

Furthermore, more voters ''strongly disapprove'' than ''strongly approve,'' a sentiment that seems to be growing. 39% of all voters strongly disapprove of Biden's job, while only 24% strongly approve.

Perhaps more concerning for the Biden camp is that the president's disapproval is also strong among important swing voters – among independents 59%, suburban voters 57%, congressional undecided voters 54%, women 53%, Hispanics 48%, African Americans 18%, and Democrats 16%.

It's safe to say that many Biden voters did not think they were voting for what Joe Biden has done since he left the basement for the White House.

In fact, America's opinion of Biden's ability to lead has gotten so bad that the majority, 55%, say that they are worried about the future of America with Joe Biden as president. That figure includes 65% among Hispanics, 57% among suburban voters, 56% among women, 54% among independents, 53% among voters under 55 years, 26% among African Americans and 22% among 2020 Biden voters.

Talk about buyer's remorse!

The president's failures are impacting everybody around him, too.

Vice President Kamala Harris' favorable to unfavorable percentages declined another net -4 points to 51% unfavorable and only 44% favorable. 21% of African American voters, 50% of Hispanic voters, and 60% of independents are unfavorable to Harris.

Put it another way — if Vice President Harris were to be the Democratic nomination in 2024 as our polling shows many think possible, former President Trump would beat her decisively in an arguably electoral landslide 49% to 46%.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is also less popular than last month, with only 37% favorable to 57% unfavorable. Among those who are undecided for Congress, Pelosi has a whopping 72% unfavorable.

When Speaker Pelosi recently met the Pope, perhaps she needed to, first, beg for mercy and, second, ask for prayers for her soon-to-be-lost majority. It's little wonder incumbent moderate Democrats and leaders are beginning to retire.

But it wasn't all bad news for the Democrats. Since last month, Senate leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., improved +3 points but remains disliked. Only 33% of those who took our poll have a favorability rating of him to 47% who find him unfavorable.

As we look ahead to 2022, Republicans lead the generic ballot for Congress 48%-47% with only 6% undecided.

Only 36% of all voters think the economy is getting better. 58% say the economy is getting worse. This is the worst our polling has shown since the pandemic shut down the economy. This is bad news when the economy is supposed to be reopening.

Biden has totally deflated the economic optimism that President Trump handed off to him.

After all these issues stack up, along with Biden's gaffes and other oddities, 57% of likely voters think that Joe Biden will not serve his full term. Those who hold that opinion believe Kamala Harris will be president before Biden's term is done.

If that happens, Harris remains the frontrunner in a Democratic primary with 29% to Michelle Obama's 18%, Pete Buttigieg with 9%, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 7% and back in the pack is Joe Manchin at 2%. So much for moderate Democrats in their primary for president.

In contrast, Joe Biden's failure is former President Trump's gain.

When asked, ''Do you want to see Donald Trump run for President again in 2024?'' 70% of all Republican primary voters, including independents who will vote in the primary, want President Trump to run again in 2024.

When asked, ''If Donald Trump ran for President again in 2024, would you support or oppose him for the Republican nomination?'' GOP primary voters, including independents, would support him 81% to 15%.

In a field of 17 candidates, including ''undecided,'' former President Trump continues to dominate the potential primary field with 53% saying they would support him. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis earned 10%, former Vice President Mike Pence received 9%, and 13 others were in single digits.

The race becomes closer if former President Trump declines to run but his eldest son decides to enter the race. DeSantis receives 24%, but Donald Trump Jr. is in second at 18%, and Mike Pence in third at 14%.

Considering that President Biden is showing no signs of reversing his radical policies which are weakening America, the election cannot come soon enough for 2022 and 2024. The coming primaries and midterms are likely to be a political massacre for the Biden Democrats.

We predict that post-pandemic elections are coming and with them brand new 21^st century voting coalitions which will reshape American politics and our country's future for years to come.