In the months leading up to the first midterm election for the Republican president, Joe Biden's approval rating is at the same level as Ronald Reagan's.According to a Gallup poll released on Tuesday, 42% of American adults approve of Biden's job as president, up from his all-time low of 38% in July but down somewhat from the 44% he received in the poll in August.Reagan had a 42 percent approval rating in September in a midterm election year, and Bill Clinton had a 42 percent rating in the same month.
Prior to the first midterm election, Biden has an approval rating that is two points higher than that of Donald Trump, but three points lower than that of Barack Obama in September 2010 and Jimmy Carter in 1978.
After losing his first midterm election, Ronald Reagan's approval rating would drop as low as 35% before rising to the mid-50s in late 1983 and reaching the 60s by 1986.Biden's approval rating is somewhat in line with that of recent presidents who served during the same time period, with two prominent outliers having substantially higher scores.
Following the American reaction to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, George Bush Sr. enjoyed a 73 percent popularity rating.
In September 2002, George W. Bush's approval rating dropped to 67 percent from the 90 percent it had reached in the Gallup poll following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The majority of Americans continue to disapprove of Biden's performance as president, despite the fact that his approval numbers have marginally increased in recent weeks. He is still well behind the low- to mid-50s that he was enjoying in his first few months in office.
The question is whether Biden's popularity can increase long enough for the Democrats to keep control of the House and Senate in the general election. The party in power typically suffers significant losses in the midterm elections, which are viewed as a referendum on the president in office.
According to Megan Brenan, a research consultant at Gallup, Biden's current 42 percent approval rating is roughly in line with the approval ratings of five of his seven predecessors at the same stage of their presidencies.
"The president's party lost between 15 and 63 congressional seats in those midterm elections. When compared to Democrats today, the presidents whose parties experienced higher losses typically had considerably larger seat majorities in the House of Representatives."
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