Which, ugh, if you are a Democratic candidate looking toward trying to win a race in a swing district or state come that November.

The latest bad news on that front came Thursday in a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll . Biden's approval in the survey slid all the way to 43%, a drop of 6 points in a single month. His disapproval, not surprisingly shot up 7 points to 51%.

Those numbers for Biden -- and Democrats -- are bad. Obviously. But there's another number buried in that question that should worry them even more.

And it's this: 41% of people said they strongly disapprove of the job Biden is doing, while just 19% strongly approve of how he is handling his job as president.

THE POINT -- NOW ON YOUTUBE! In each episode of his weekly YouTube show, Chris Cillizza will delve a little deeper into the surreal world of politics. Click to subscribe! What that number suggests is that there is a major passion gap between the two party bases. Democrats like Biden -- some even love him. But Republicans HATE him, with 82% saying they strongly disapprove of how he is doing the job. That sort of energy disparity between the two party bases is, if history is any guide, a recipe for disaster for Democratic candidates for Congress. This, from Gallup's Jeffrey Jones , is illustrative of that -- ahem -- point: "In Gallup's polling history, presidents with job approval ratings below 50% have seen their party lose 37 House seats, on average, in midterm elections. That compares with an average loss of 14 seats when presidents had approval ratings above 50%." Recent history affirms that trend. With his approval ratings in the low 40s (at best) then-President Donald Trump's Republican Party got thumped in the 2018 midterms. Republicans lost 40 House seats -- and their majority. : The best news for Biden and his party is that it's September 2021, not September 2022. If his job approval numbers in a year's time are anywhere near where they are today, Democrats will likely be facing a wave perched to come crashing down on them on Election Day.

Source: CNN

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