Polls: Majority of Americans say Biden's first year was a 'failure,' Republicans hold substantial lead heading into midterm elections

Two new polls were recently released regarding the job performance of President Joe Biden, and they paint a potentially disastrous picture for Democrats heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released on Friday finds that a majority (56%) of Americans think Biden's first year in office has been a failure, compared to only 39% who said it was a success.

There was also a majority of Americans who said Biden is "not fulfilling campaign promises" (54%) and is "doing more to divide the nation than to unite it" (52%). Biden campaigned heavily on the promise of uniting Americans.

A mere 30% of Americans feel as though the country is headed in the right direction. This is similar results to a Fox News poll released on Thursday that found just 35% of Americans believe the country is better off now than a year ago.

There were 38% of the NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll participants who said that President Biden's top priority should be inflation – far higher than any other issue. Earlier this month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the highest inflation rate in 40 years.

Of the respondents, 11% said Biden should concern himself about the coronavirus, and another 11% said voting laws were a top priority. There were 10% who said Biden needs to focus on foreign policy, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There were also 10% who believed violent crime was the most important issue.

Biden's job approval rating was a paltry 39%, down from 41% in December. There are 55% who disapprove of Biden's job performance and a whopping 41% who "strongly disapprove."

A new ABC News/Washington Post poll spelled even more trouble for Biden and Democrats in the midterm elections.

Heading into his first State of the Union address, Biden has a meager 37% approval rating – the lowest of his term.

ABC News delivered some historical relevance to such a poor rating of a president in their first year:

Analyzing data going back to Harry Truman's administration, only two presidents have had approval ratings this low heading into their first State of the Union address, which Biden delivers Tuesday. Those two were Donald Trump, at 36%, and Gerald Ford, at 37%. Disapproval has been higher, by a nonsignificant 3 percentage points, only for Trump. (More were undecided about Ford, then just five months in office.)

However, it isn't just President Biden who appears to be in political turmoil, according to polls. Democrats also face alarming polling numbers.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll revealed:

Seventy-five percent of Americans rate the economy’s condition as not so good or poor, the most in ABC/Post polls since 2013. The public by a 3-1 margin says it’s gotten worse rather than better since Biden took office, 54-17% (with the rest saying it’s stayed the same). That “gotten worse” number is more than double what it was when measured during Trump’s presidency in 2019 (22%) and 11 points higher than under Obama in 2012.

In early midterm voting preferences, the poll found that Republican congressional candidates have a 49-42% advantage over Democrats among registered voters. The GOP advantage spikes to 54-41% among Americans who say they both are registered and certain to vote in November.

"In the new data, among independents who are registered to vote – often swing voters – GOP candidates lead by 14 points," Langer Research Associates stated.