‘Quickest way to lose their majority’: Dem officials worry more about America’s future than Biden’s approval rating

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A reporter pressured President Joe Biden this week, claiming that a poll of Democrats showed they didn't support him for 2024. Biden corrected the reporter saying that 92 percent of Democrats say that they still support him, however.

Democratic members, even of conservative states, got the same message. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) explained to Raw Story that the generic ballot for Democrats running in 2022 is far better than Biden's so it isn't as if he's turning out to be a drag on the ticket. At the same time, "I saw one poll the other day that has him matched up against [Donald] Trump and he beats Trump."

He went on to say that the decision to destroy Roe v. Wade changed the nature of the election just as much as gas prices and inflation. Gas prices have gone down for the past several weeks after Biden took dramatic action to release millions of barrels from the strategic oil reserves. While the price per barrel has decreased, however, the cost of a gallon of gas remains comparatively higher, leading to accusations that oil companies are price gouging.

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Republicans have said that they intend to do away with the Jan. 6 committee and ban abortion federally, which Yarmuth said: "would be the quickest way to lose their majority" assuming they get one.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) similarly told Raw Story that it isn't necessarily about the left or the middle, rather it's about the truth.

"Let's tell the truth about what's happening in America — in this country," Bowman said. "People can't afford rent, can't afford gas, can't afford groceries, can't afford child care, don't have $15 national minimum wage, workers' rights are under attack and they're now making a resurgence. Corporations aren't paying their fair share. The wealthy aren't paying their fair share. So, it's not about left or right or moderate, it's about what do the American people want and we have a system right now where in the Senate you have minority rule. You have 50 Republican Senators representing millions and millions of fewer Americans."

His reference is about the statistic that if you count the number of Americans Democrats in the Senate represent vs. the number of people Republicans. Democrats represent 186,274,500 Americans where Republicans represent 144,725,500. It's a difference of 41,549,808 people. It's a reason Bowman thinks that they need to reexamine the idea of a "decades-old filibuster."

He went on to say that Republicans are too frequently the ones who are able to frame who the Democrats are, "while Democrats, the party of the working class, are trying to out Republican the Republicans." He attributed it to Democrats following the "anger and rage of the country and not the truth of the country. And that's what we should be trying to get back to as a party and what the American people want."

Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) told Raw Story that she's not nervous about the historical pattern of the opposite party of the president winning in the mid-term elections.

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"I'm nervous for the country. So much has gone on. So, how do we get over low poll numbers? Doing our job. We legislate. We see a Senate that's not doing its job. We'll continue to do our job," Dean said. "The president is leading on the assault weapons ban that he has called for. Whether it's on making sure we restore women's full autonomy and rights to our bodies and her integrity and self-determination. Whether it's the protection of our planet. And the underpinning of the whole thing is the Jan. 6 hearing. The truth is coming out in the most profound and concerning ways."

She asserted that the way to prove to the American people that Democrats should be reelected is to do their jobs. Dean went on to give an example of a poll of her district where they asked if the Supreme Court was overreaching with the anti-abortion decision and 91 percent said "yes."

With additional reporting from Matt Laslo.