As 2022 unfolded, the first year of Joe Biden’s Presidency of America has ended as a period of declining fortunes. His approval rating is said to be lower than his occasionally faltering Vice-President, Kamala Harris. Even a section of Democrats is apparently disillusioned after five years of the impetuous Donald Trump.

The latest Gallup poll has indicated that Biden’s score of 43 per cent ~ among all voters ~ had not changed since last September. Having started his innings at the White House on 57 per cent, his ratings remained at around 50 per cent till the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan last August and the takeover by the Taliban.

At another remove, approval for Ms Harris was 49 per cent in September, but it slipped to 44 per cent after what has been described as a “series of gaffes” such as the compliments to a student who criticized the “ethnic genocide” by Israel. Additionally, she took months to visit America’s border with Mexico despite the task of curbing illegal immigration having devolved on her. While Republicans are almost compulsively critical of Mr Biden, the support that he enjoyed among Democratic voters has declined from 90 per cent three months ago to 78 per cent in the latest poll.

In other words, therefore, his effectiveness has not been an unqualified success. Among the crucial independent voters, there was a slight rise from 37 to 40 per cent. It would be pertinent to recall that last January, Biden had the support of 61 per cent of the independent voters. Ms Harris had the approval of 61 per cent of independent voters in September, but that has plummeted to 42 per cent in the latest poll. Gallup surveyed America’s voters on eleven senior public figures.

The survey found that the most respected was John Roberts, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Incidentally, he had been nominated by President George Bush. Roberts earned 60 per cent approval and was the lone figure in the survey to receive bipartisan positive ratings. He was backed by 57 per cent of Republican voters and 55 per cent of Democrats. Markedly, two leading personalities were rated lower than President Biden ~ Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives on 40 per cent, and Mitch McConnell (34 per cent), who happens to be the most senior Republican in the Senate.

McConnell is involved in a feud with Trump, who has called for his removal as party leader in the Upper Chamber. Clearly, the poll is riveted to the evolving scenario in the United States and the role of prominent legislators. Clearly once more, President Biden and his second-in-command must of necessity reflect on the findings, quite obviously with the focus on immigration, Iran’s nuclear proliferation, and China, not to forget the surge of coronavirus and its latest variant, Omicron, which the federal authorities have called “milder and less lethal”.