Biden May Nor Be Popular But His Policies Are

The following is part of an op-ed by Catherine Rampell in The Washington Post: 

President Biden’s policy agenda is incredibly popular, much more popular than his opponent’s. But Biden the man? Not so much. . . .

Democrats have long argued that their policies are more popular than those of Republicans. In a recent blind test conducted by YouGov, that was unmistakably true. The polling organization asked Americans what they thought about major policies proposed by Biden and Donald Trump without specifying who proposed them. The idea was to see how the public perceived ideas when stripped of tribal associations.

Biden’s agenda was the winner, hands down.

Of the 28 Biden proposals YouGov asked about, 27 were supported by more people than opposed them. Impressively, 24 received support from more than 50 percent of respondents.

The most popular Biden policy proposal is requiring criminal and mental background checks for all gun purchases. This idea was favored by 82 percent of respondents — including 70 percent of voters who self-identified as Trump supporters. Biden’s least popular idea — the only one of the 28 that was underwater — was a pledge of 10 years of U.S. military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. (Only 30 percent liked this.)

Trump’s policies, on the other hand, fare much worse. Of 28 major proposals YouGov asked about, only nine received at least plurality support (more people supported than opposed them). Even more damning, just six were favored by a majority of respondents.

Trump’s most popular idea was phasing out imports of essential goods from China over the next four years, at 59 percent approval. The least popular was to give presidents control over independent regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission. Only 19 percent supported the proposal, including just 27 percent of self-identified Trump supporters.

The contrast between the favorability of the rivals’ agendas is particularly striking when put side by side. Some of Trump’s mostpopular policies are about as well-liked as Biden’s least popular ones.