3 poll numbers that should scare Democrats

Here’s one bonus number: 53.

It’s the percentage of respondents who say they disapprove of Biden’s handling of the pandemic. The margin is more narrow there, with 43 percent of respondents saying they approve of Biden’s management of the greatest public health crisis in a century.

Keep in mind, Biden pitched himself as the adult in the room in 2020, offering a steady hand to steer the nation out of the pandemic after months of chaotic leadership and mixed messaging from the previous Trump administration.

But as the pandemic enters its third year, and states begin shrugging off mask mandates and other restrictions, there’s every indication that a weary American public also is ready to move on from the virus and resume something approximating a normal life.

On Tuesday, a senior Biden administration official told congressional budget writers that the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services will need at least $30 billion to keep its pandemic response up and running, according to Politico, signaling that while Americans may be done with the pandemic, it’s not done with us yet.

Fortunately, all is not lost for Biden and Democrats. Three numbers point the way out of the administration’s current predicament.

That’s the 55 percent of all respondents who say they like Biden as a person, with 34 percent saying they like him as a person and also like most of his policies.

Then there’s the 54 percent of respondents who say they support Biden’s decision to deploy thousands of troops to Eastern Europe to support U.S. allies in NATO (Nearly as many, 57 percent, want the country to stay out of Ukraine if the Russians invade).

All of those numbers, again, point the way toward Biden’s initial selling point: His competence and experience, both on Capitol Hill, and as eight years as vice president, where he regularly interacted with foreign leaders.

The challenge will be convincing voters that the policies that improved their lives are Democratic policies, and that they’re worth continuing.

Math is hard. Electoral math is much harder. Fortunately for Biden and his Democratic allies, it’s not impossible. They’ll just need to show their work.

An award-winning political journalist, John L. Micek is Editor-in-Chief of The Pennsylvania Capital-Star in Harrisburg, Pa. Email him at jmicek@penncapital-star.com and follow him on Twitter @ByJohnLMicek.