About That Poll (NY Times)

[All Mixed Up]

41. People think the state of America right now is horrible.

And as president, Biden is going to get the blame fair or not.

Did Bush's economic policies cause the recession in the early 90s? Probably not. The recession was going to likely happen coming out of the Reagan years no matter who was president.

But Bush largely got the blame.

Was Carter responsible for the energy crisis and sky-high inflation? Nope. But he still got the blame for it.

Hell, the great depression literally happened weeks into Hoover's presidency and he's still remembered as the president who caused it even though he had no tangible way of doing so as president (granted his actions after the start didn't help, including signing the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act).

The point is, Americans are not satisfied with the country. You can talk about the booming economy but when they still can't afford groceries or rent or to buy a house, that all feels distant.

It's not Biden's fault. But he'll get the blame as president.

Even Obama was starting to get a stronger amount of blame for the poor economy in 2012 despite everyone knowing the recession started under Bush. It's a big reason his reelection wasn't in the bag until late in the process.

We just gotta hope prices continue to fall. If they do, Biden will likely benefit. If they don't, he will struggle in November.