--- title: Biden's Challenge for 2024 in the Face of Dismal Polling description: Biden heads into 2024 with worse polling than any President since Jimmy Carter at this point in his first term, giving Trump a clear edge. canonical: https://time.com/6358571/biden-2024-polls-age/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-12-20T12:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T16:49:50.026Z article:section: Politics og:title: Biden's Challenge for 2024 in the Face of Dismal Polling og:description: Joe Biden heads into 2024 with worse polling than any President since Jimmy Carter at this point in his first term. og:url: https://time.com/6358571/biden-2024-polls-age/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87fb9d5549a2c9c5/698a430e096a94f24f6ae6a6/biden-poy.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: CPAC 2022 in Orlando, Florida - February 24, 2022 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Biden's Challenge for 2024 in the Face of Dismal Polling twitter:description: Joe Biden heads into 2024 with worse polling than any President since Jimmy Carter at this point in his first term. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87fb9d5549a2c9c5/698a430e096a94f24f6ae6a6/biden-poy.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Biden's Challenge for 2024 > Sponsored content. 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It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=42b3e2a0-a115-4047-a0d5-64b202aba097&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Dec 20, 2023 12:00 PM UTC  Joe Biden is seen on a video screen at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando on Feb, 24, 2022. Joe Biden is seen on a video screen at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando on Feb, 24, 2022. Mark Peterson—Redux  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Dec 20, 2023 12:00 PM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ If you can put politics aside, Joe Biden had a good year as presidencies go. He held together a global coalition backing Ukraine’s defense against Russia. His early legislative wins started paying off in jobs and investments in infrastructure and manufacturing. The economy even hummed along, side-stepping a recession many thought was inevitable. Not to mention the government remained open and solvent, no small thing these days. Yet none of that appears to be helping Biden in the polls. He is heading into 2024 with [worse](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/) polling than any President since Jimmy Carter at this point in his first term. Even George H.W. Bush’s job approval in November 1991 was 20 points better, and he went on to lose re-election by a whopping 202 electoral votes. The polling speaks of more than disapproval, with [48%](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/) of Democrats believing Biden lacks the stamina to do the job—up from [31%](http://31%) when he ran last time—and 32% saying he does not make them proud as President. And those folks are supposed to be his base. Somehow, Biden remains competitive in head-to-head polling against the Republican front runner, Donald Trump. Democrats may be looking around the corner for someone fresher—or at least not turning [82](http://82) just before the next Inauguration Day—but Biden remains perhaps the most unifying figure on their bench, and a powerful check against a volatile GOP-controlled House struggling to accomplish even basic tasks. Moreover, in the first post-_Roe_ presidential election, Biden’s support for abortion rights helps him with voters who ranked that as their top worry. As his re-election bid ramps up in 2024, Biden will face new headwinds. The House’s lagging impeachment inquiry is likely to move ahead, with Republicans convinced they’ll turn up evidence of foreign bribery. And the legal woes of his son Hunter remain vexing, as do third-party challengers, who seem to be multiplying. Which is why so many in the West Wing find themselves taking comfort in the old adage “Polls don’t vote, people do.” Sometimes, it seems, old is what you want. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6358571/biden-2024-polls-age/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6358571/biden-2024-polls-age/"},"headline":"Biden's Challenge for 2024","datePublished":"2023-12-20T12:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T16:49:50.026Z","description":"Joe Biden heads into 2024 with worse polling than any President since Jimmy Carter at this point in his first term.","url":"https://time.com/6358571/biden-2024-polls-age/","keywords":["The D.C. 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