Joe Biden’s long arc in public life has always had one final ambition: to sit behind the Resolute Desk of the Oval Office.
He achieved it — albeit, at 78, as the oldest person to assume the presidency.
Since then, things have gone all wrong for Biden and his Democratic Party allies. A shocking new Gallup poll released over the weekend illustrates just how badly things have faired.
Gallup’s data showed a dramatic shift in political party affiliation in 2021. When Biden took over in the first quarter, Democrats enjoyed a massive nine-point advantage over Republicans among the general public — their largest lead in almost a decade.
In the three quarters since, that lead has evaporated and turned into a five-point Republican advantage.
That’s a dramatic 14-point shift among Americans who identify as either Republicans, Democrats, or independent. It also gives the Republicans their largest lead among voters since 1991.
Biden started his presidency by planning to spend more than $4 trillion— his eyes were larger than what the Democrat-controlled Senate could stomach.
$1.9 trillion worth of coronavirus relief passed in March. That amount of money may have been considered a signature achievement during another presidency, especially during the first year.
But Biden kept pushing for more: an additional $2.3 trillion for infrastructure and jobs, and another $1.8 trillion for families.
After some tortuous negotiations, he signed a version of his infrastructure, after it passed Congress with bipartisan support.
That early success has faded quickly.
Biden’s $1.8 trillion package, which he labeled “Build Back Better,” included a decade-long wish list for of Democratic spending — a child tax credit, environmental spending, paid family leave and federalized universal prekindergarten.
Republicans abandoned him on this, and several Democrats were also skeptics. Then inflation surged, and the bill’s chances have become slim.
What’s more, Biden attempted to to break the Congress’ logjam on the Democrats’ two voting bills, and he failed. Last week, he pushed for the Senate to alter its rules and to pass the bill with a simple majority, rather than 60 votes. That plan was quashed later that day by dissident senators from his own party.
Biden came to office trumpeting, “America is back,” his shorthand message to allies and adversaries that the days of former President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy were over.
But his approach to the world has also been notable for its determination to avoid some of the missteps of his old boss, Barack Obama.
Biden stood by his pledge to meet an August deadline to end the war in Afghanistan even as military commanders and some political allies urged him to slow down what ended up being a chaotic and bloody U.S. military withdrawal. The exit Biden presided over was widely criticized for its lack of planning, which cost the lives of over a dozen U.S. troops.
The problems don’t stop in the Oval Office. Biden’s relationship with Vice President Kamala Harris has been rough.
Her role in the job is historic: She’s the first biracial vice president, as well as the first woman in that role. But she’s struggled to find her footing, and Biden hasn’t been much of a guide.
Despite insider reports of vicious infighting and disfunction, the two insist publicly that their relationship is solid.
Like most of the stories coming out of the White House this year, polls show that voters aren’t buying the official story.
And the Biden administration failures have Republicans poised for a historic win in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections.
READ MORE: Kamala Harris finally reacts to staff mass exodus
The Associated Press contributed to this article