President Joe Biden's low approval ratings are threatening to severely damage the chances of Democratic House incumbents in swing seats and nudge once safe districts into the middle of the danger zone, according to recent Republican polling in roughly a dozen districts, Politico reported on Monday.
Survey data obtained by Politico shows that Biden is underwater by double-digit margins in 11 districts he carried, meaning that the House map looks increasingly worrisome for Democrats.
Democrats were already in trouble in at least 30 highly competitive districts, but Biden's continuing low approval ratings, with only four months until the elections, has given Republicans optimism about seriously contesting another dozen seats that the president won just two years ago by at least nine percentage points.
Democrat Rep. Susie Lee, whose southern Nevada district was carried by Biden in 2020 by seven percentage points but where the president now has a disapproval rating 20 points higher than his approval numbers, acknowledged the problem.
"The top of the ticket affects congressional races so it's not something I'm not aware of," Lee said, adding that "voters are frustrated [and] are obviously looking to the leader to put some blame on him."
Some Democrats insist that despite the consistently dismal polls, there is still time for the party to recover ground, particularly in the suburbs, as voters react to the Supreme Court's reversal of abortion rights, which could energize the party's base and keep them motivated to turn out.
By this thinking, they could hold onto many seats if more goes in the favor of Democrats –such as gas prices continuing to drop or the party passing popular bills before the election, according to Politico.
However, others admit that the GOP's lead is likely insurmountable.
The atmosphere has become so abysmal for Democrats that strategists see the potential for numerous bluer districts to come into play, including ones Biden carried by double-digits two years ago.
This year's cycle is drawing comparisons by some veteran strategists to the Republican wave in 2010, when the party also worked to land strong candidates who could contest tough districts.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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