Keller: Biden's approval ratings soar after dropping out, leaving Trump searching for a direction
The opinions expressed below are Jon Keller's, not those of WBZ, CBS News or Paramount Global.
BOSTON - As President Joe Biden's approval rating soars following his dropping out of the presidential race, former President Donald Trump is left searching for a direction, said WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller.
Dropping does wonders for Biden
"They took [Joe Biden] out and it was a bad thing to do," said Trump in a recent campaign speech. "But also unfair to me. I spent $100 million dollars fighting against the man that won."
Why is Trump still talking about a candidate who is no longer in the race? Perhaps he's longing for the good old days when he had President Biden on the ropes.
And no wonder. Biden's replacement, Vice President Kamala Harris, has wiped out both Trump's edge and - according to a new USA Today/Suffolk University poll– most of the bad vibes voters had about the Biden economy and Biden himself.
It seems dropping out has done wonders for Biden's image, boosting his approval rating to its highest point in years. "Total approval of independent women shoots way over 50%," notes Dave Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center. "It's 58% total approval, and independent women were the demographic that prevented the red wave in 2022."
Trump left floundering
And while Trump hoped comparing his term with Biden's would be his ace card, the Democratic Convention attacks on Trump's record have seemingly helped blunt that tactic. "It came from 100 different speakers from all walks of life, saying how bad things were under Trump and how much better things will be under Kamala Harris," says Paleologos. "So that particular narrative, that tool or that weapon, has been taken away or nullified."
Leaving Trump floundering, and complaining. "If we didn't have a debate, he'd still be there," he says. "Can you imagine if we didn't have a debate? Why the hell did I debate him?"
A major adjustment is in order, suggests Paleologos: "Wayne Gretzky said you have to skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been. And Trump, for whatever reason, is lagging on his messaging."
And that may be a key to next Tuesday's all-important Harris/Trump debate: can Trump persuasively draw contrasts between his performance in office and that of Biden/Harris, while focusing on the candidate he's debating, not the one he wishes he was still running against?
