Nearly two-thirds of Americans (65%) were asked to believe that the United States was going in the wrong direction, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on February 7 before President Joe Biden's Federal message speech. This is a significant increase compared to last year, when only 58% of respondents expressed similar skepticism.
As President Joe Biden prepares to speak to Congress at 9pm on February 7 (9am on February 8, Vietnam time), public approval ratings for Mr. Biden remain below 41% - not necessarily a low level compared to the 36% that Mr. Biden maintained continuously in the spring and summer of last year - but still a problem for a leader trying to convince voters to give him a second term.
Mr. Biden's federal message is expected to highlight the president's legislative efforts in the areas of infrastructure and inflation. Inflation (as well as the economy as a whole) topped the list of concerns for Americans in a recent poll.
The White House told reporters that Mr. Biden will issue a unified agenda that highlights bipartisan cooperation in cancer research, veteran health, general mental health, and disorder caused by opioid use.
However, none of these issues made the list of the top five issues of concern to Americans in the Reuters poll. After the economy - including unemployment and employment rates - the most recent results of opinion polls show that crime/corruption, immigration, environment/climate and inequality/discrimination are the main issues that make Americans worried. In a rare display of bipartisan solidarity, Republicans, Democrats and independents agreed that the economy is the nation's number one challenge.
Only 37% of Democratic Party members want Mr. Biden to run for a second term as president, according to an AP poll released earlier this week. Respondents cited Mr. Biden's age, declining spirit and ineffective governance, and wanted a new leader. Only 13% of respondents said they were confident in the president's ability to achieve major policy goals.
However, despite their low support rate, Mr. Biden's Democratic Party has shown incredible strength in the 2022 midterm election. Although Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives, Democrats avoided the "red waves" of flooding and maintained control of the Senate.
In another development, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said that the US is facing "domestic division and international chaos".
Warning at an event on May 5 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Kissinger said: "As the US is suffering domestic division and international disorder over the debates about who we are and what we stand for, the US finds it difficult to gather domestic solidarity to face the challenges ahead."
According to former Foreign Minister Kissinger, these include challenging the world order from China, Russias military campaign in Ukraine, and Irans development of the worlds most destructive weapons, not to mention artificial intelligence (AI) which is directly transforming human consciousness.
Every urgent step of development requires a combination of strength and reconciliation, he said, reminding fans of the former President Trump knowing that the United States needs to be qualitative and strong to protect world order by force, if necessary.
The late president Ronald Reagan always believed that the United States is safer and more prosperous when it is at the forefront of shaping a stable world and that a stable world cannot rely on American dependenceism, Kissinger asserted.
Last month at the World Economic Forum, former foreign minister Kissinger publicly approved the idea of Ukraine becoming a NATO member, reversing the opposition he had expressed at the previous conference, when he called for an end to the conflict as soon as possible.
