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Brian Watkins's avatar

I realize these are based on feelings, but I put no stock in these numbers and think we should stop even discussing them. In the post-fact, post-logic world, these mean even less. I believe we need experts to do the ratings and that is it - they can actually rate on logical and important things.

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Daniel M Kimmel's avatar

I've been saying for some time now that Biden will leave office very unpopular and as time goes on and people realize just how much he accomplished he will go up in estimation. Whereas Trump peaks the day he falsely swears to his oath of office. His place as the worst president in history seems secure.

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DK Brooklyn's avatar

How history remembers isn’t done by taking a poll of people now, but by historians in the future.

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John Isaacs's avatar

You do a lot of great writing, but trying to guess how history will remember Biden while he is still in office and still unpopular is a fools errand. It is appropriate to consider Jimmy Carter's and Richard Nixon's place in history 10 or 20 years or more after they left office and not at the end of their terms. That period of time provides perspective, from historians, from future developments, for a wider view. it is much too early to judge Biden's place in history --unless you are desperate to write on some nonsensical topic. Let's see how Afghanistan turns out. Let's see how the Middle East turns out. Let's see how the US-Chinese relationship develops. Let's see where climate change goes. Let's see how Middle Class jobs go. Let's see how policies are viewed years into the future. You can do better Chris.

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Todd Bauer's avatar

You've repeated exactly what Chris said repeatedly, so I guess you can do better as well, John.

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Adam J Schmidt's avatar

Hell of a recency bias -- just look at Carter for a recent example. Or Truman going further back. We need time.

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Stephanie Gibbs Dunlap's avatar

And FDR…💯🇺🇸👏🥰. The imbecile Trump? Gloating over the fires 🔥 enjoying every min! And this > less than a week before the fires, »> Trump 🤡announced- That “he was going to cut back on the fire department and aid, to California!” Then the fires, started! Coincidence? I think NOT! Trump IS ignorant, he also tends to give ‘a TELL,’ as in ‘’spills the beans.” I saw live film of men with fire blowers, starting fires in the brush, in different areas. Should be looked into.

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Deborah Mills's avatar

How quickly we forget overcoming COVID, stabilizing our international standing, CHIPS Act, booming economy, environmental progress, energy booming (green plus most petroleum production ever), etc. please focus on the positive for a change. Trump won because people wanted to believe his lies and frankly don't understand basic economics of supply and demand and that eggs are expensive due to avian flu. And again, Democrats didn't bother to vote. Shame on all of us.

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Nancy Croskey's avatar

I will remember Biden as a president with integrity, character and grit. He wasn’t perfect, but no one is.

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Wayne Corey's avatar

Washington is filled with all kinds of MAGA crap and Chris Cillizza STILL can't stop ripping President Biden. Wow! Just, wow!

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Left-Of-Center's avatar

I would have to agree with many of the frequent posters here and say that judging Biden now, at the end of an unpopular term (based primarily on an uneducated view of the state of the economy, maybe?) is not only a fool’s errand, it’s a waste of time.

There are SO many subjects to report on now. Other than the obvious fact that pundits like you *love* polls, Chris, this Gallup poll seems like the absolute least of these…

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Cynthia Almonte's avatar

This piece is a waste of time to read and it feels like cable TV filler.

Chris needs to move on to relevant topics, not continue to rehash his feelings about Biden, even when supported by a wonky 'survey' that has zero real impact.

I mean, who cares right now? What will matter is opinions on Biden's impact in future decades. Plus - the math is skewed by irrational Biden hatred by Republicans.

Really, time to move on, Chris - we don't need to pay for content that is starting to feel like your personal Biden therapy session. If you have nothing to discuss, why discuss this, this is not a good use of anyone's time.

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Elaine Seal's avatar

Agree. Feels like Chris is phoning it in the past few days.

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Laura's avatar

First of all, I know pollers are always looking for something new to weigh in on, but it's ridiculous to talk about how Biden will be remembered when he hasn't even left office. I think it takes, at least, a couple of years for people to be objective about it.

Second, I don't think we have EVER had a president-elect who spent the entire period, from the election until Inauguration Day, lying, disrespecting, and undermining the sitting president before this.

Come back in a year, when we see what Trump has done. Then you might get some objective opinions.

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Anne MacDonald's avatar

The key thing that stands out in all of this is the role time plays. Discuss this again in 10 years.

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mark edwards's avatar

Was it yogi berra who said: "the problem with predicting the future is that it keeps changing" or something like that?

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Parker Elmore's avatar

I give you credit as you know you'll get roasted for this. In fairness, the public's opinion isn't always intellectually based. It's always a mystery why JFK's presidency gets such great regard when he accomplished little (I assume it's like many lives cut short that we infer all the great things that could have been done) while LBJ is the one who actually got things done.

If he had not run for re-election, there is no debate and I'd argue his numbers would be better but not great. But, that debate will diminish his standing forever as you can't unsee it.

I'd expect that as time goes on (and the behind the scenes books are written), he'll be thought of more like Woodrow Wilson's 2nd term (to be clear - not a racist like Wilson).

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Michael Beyer's avatar

Could Biden have done a better job? Sure! But look how uneventful, in so many good ways, his overall Presidency was compared to his predecessor. Most of the population has no idea of what was accomplished the past four years and the hundreds of bills that passed with bipartisan support. Plus you can't blame inflation on the President. Anyone who took Econ 101 knows this.

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Karl's avatar

A complete waste of time. Even ten years after a president leaves office may be too soon to evaluate him in comparison to his predecessors. And Trump will always be an exception because he is probably the greatest salesman-as-president of all time.

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