CNN fisked the latest Pew Poll on Biden’s numbers. Even they can’t make them look good, so instead, they just lay it out there. Not the way Tucker Carlson would, but it’s a baby step for CNN, which has a lot in common with Biden.
A declining public interest. But that wasn’t what caught my eye. I knew Biden would be a failure, so this is what has me shaking my head.
69%. Almost 7 in 10 Americans say that the coronavirus pandemic continues to be a major threat to the health of the economy. That number includes large majorities of Democrats (74%) and Republicans (66%).
And he is how that was written up by Pew.
- Nearly seven-in-ten adults (69%) continue to say that the coronavirus outbreak is a major threat to the U.S. economy. A quarter say that is it a minor threat to the country’s economy, while just 5% say it is not a threat. The share who say the coronavirus is a major threat to the economy is little changed from August, when 72% called the outbreak a major threat.
That’s a scary number right there, and it tells us that we still have a lot of work to do. What do I mean? The virus has nothing to do with the economy; the political response did that. People did it.
And a majority of Republicans (66%) appear not to have worked that out.
It can be said that perhaps no one asked them to distill that feeling down to levels of culpability. And fewer of those identifying as Republicans see COVID as a threat to their health, so maybe this needs granulation. I may be reaching.
But on its face, it is disturbing.
In the absence of government interference, several things would be different.
- The world would have gone along as it was without all the fearmongering.
- Doctors would have been permitted to treat each patient without top-down mandates or institutional intimidation.
- Medical professionals would have quickly found and shared ways to save a lot more lives.
- The economy might have dipped and ebbed, but it would not have suffered the back-breaking abuse of lockdowns and quarantines.
- The supply chain would still be intact (no shortages or massive job losses).
- And we likely would have had little use for any warp-speed vaccine while those who wanted it would have quickly discovered it was worse than the threat.
- Few if any other side-effects of covid policy on student achievement, suicidal ideation, drug overdoses, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, you know the list.
- No humanitarian crisis at the border, no foreign dependence on oil, and instead of saber-rattling China and Russia, we’d have more peace in the Middle East.
- And maybe we’d not have any polling on how badly a job Joe Biden is doing as president because he would not be that.
Joe Biden’s numbers are bad on COVID and a lot more, but America’s numbers are worse on COVID. Most of our current problems are the result of political force, not a virus. People still don’t understand that. Republicans don’t understand it. Until most Americans understand and accept the actual source of their ills, there will be an inadequate response to correct it.
And it doesn’t have to be a majority, but it should be a very active and committed minority. About 40-45% of colonists approved of the American Revolution. So, maybe we’re closer than we think.
