"Voters appear to measure a president against a non existent "ideal" president...

[kpete]

...instead of against the other option"

President Biden has done a remarkable job IMHO. He was handed the a$$ end of a feces sandwich on attaining office. The worst president ever left office involuntarily after installing a supreme court which functions like an inquisition, a senate which functions as obstructionist and a portion of the population who don’t seem to look to a better future but ache for a troglodyte past. Despite this President Biden has managed to restart the economy, unemployment is low, vaccines are available to those who understand their use and importance and he has walked a tightrope providing support to Ukraine while not escalating the scope of the war. I shudder to think what Ukraine and a large part of Europe would look like today had tfg remained in office.

https://balloon-juice.com/2022/07/23/saturday-morning-open-thread-could-be-worse/#comment-8569422
https://balloon-juice.com/2022/07/23/changing-the-narrative-conversation-starter/

[Phoenix61]

1. They would look Russian, very, very Russian. nt

[Walleye]

2. Are we Democrats worse about this?

[Chainfire]

5. It is better to criticize a sitting President than to hold him up as a god.

All Presidents are judged in comparison to their predecessors and their successors. All presidents are held responsible, rightly or wrongly for what happens on their watch. Joe Biden is a good man, he is honest and decent, he has shown good judgement in his decisions, but he is not perfect.

[Walleye]

6. Comparison to his predecessor? Nobody saying he's perfect

We love to go into detailed criticism of our own. Of course it gives ammunition to the other side but we don’t care about that I guess

[elleng]

3. Of course, and poll questions are 'useless,' imo.

[gulliver]

4. The media helps people be dumb by pandering to them for audience share

If a voter thinks (or, especially, "feels" ) a dumb thing, you won't find CNN disagreeing. Far from it, they'll put the dummy on air, nod respectfully, validate them, and then do an opinion piece on how the dummy voter's "thought feelings" about the issue are right.

Everything's about emotion and pandering to uninformed, unthought-out whims now.