Joe Biden is electorally in trouble ahead of the 2024 presidential elections, or at least that's what the polls show. After Morning Consult found him losing to Donald Trump, both head-to-head and with the inclusion of Robert Kennedy Jr. and Cornell West, Emerson College found him below 30% in the Democratic primary in New Hampshire.
The probe, conducted between November 10 and 13 among 917 registered voters, placed the current president in a 27% voting intention in the New Hampshire primaries, followed by 15% for Dean Phillips, 10% for Marianne Williamson and 5% who would prefer another option. The percentage of undecided voters exceeded the rest with 44%.
The percentage obtained by Biden was strikingly low for a sitting president, who usually averages above 60% in primaries. According to the pollster, the fact that Biden will not participate in the race in New Hampshire may have confused voters.
"With Biden not officially on the ballot in New Hampshire, Democratic primary voters appear to be confused about which candidate to support and how to vote for them," explained Spencer Kimball, CEO of Emerson College.
The president will skip these elections to follow the Democratic National Committee (DNC) calendar, which placed South Carolina as the first state to elect its candidate for president, something that was seen as a maneuver to boost Biden's candidacy from the start, as happened in 2020.
His campaign manager, Julie Chávez Rodríguez, wrote in a letter to the state chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, Ray Buckley, explaining that while the "president wishes to participate," he is "obliged" to follow the DNC schedule. "Many people see this as a power play by some," Buckley said.
Emerson College also measured the president's popularity in New Hampshire, which he carried by seven percentage points in 2020.
"President Biden holds a 37% approval among New Hampshire voters, while 53% disapprove of the job he is doing in office. A majority of voters (58%) consider the Biden administration's foreign policy to be more of a failure rather than a success, while 42% view it as more of a success rather than a failure. Regarding the Biden administration's immigration policy, 66% view it as more of a failure, while 34% consider it to be more of a success," the pollster added about the president's image.
