Tense Race Ahead of US Midterm Elections... Biden's Approval Rating Rises to 45%

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] Ahead of the upcoming US midterm elections in November, a tight race is emerging. With President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party's approval ratings slightly rising, it has become even more difficult to predict the election outcome.

According to a poll released on the 18th (local time) by NBC News, when asked which party they hope will win the midterm elections, both the Democratic and Republican parties tied at 46%. This is a closer race compared to the same question last month, when the Republican Party led slightly with 47% over the Democratic Party's 45%. However, this is within a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points.

In this survey of 1,000 US voters, the Democratic Party showed an advantage among Black voters (77% to 8%), ages 18-34 (57% to 33%), white voters with a college degree (58% to 38%), women (53% to 40%), and Latinos (46% to 42%). On the other hand, the Republican Party led among men (53% to 39%), white voters (54% to 41%), independents (43% to 37%), and white voters without a college degree (64% to 31%).

The percentage of respondents opposing the Supreme Court's abortion ban ruling increased by 3 percentage points from last month to 61%, which is expected to be favorable for the Democratic Party. Conversely, 58% of respondents opposed President Biden's economic policies. The economy is considered an area advantageous to the Republican Party.

President Biden's approval rating rose 3 percentage points from the previous survey to 45%, marking the highest level since October last year across NBC polls.

Meanwhile, support for political rival former President Donald Trump was at 34%, the lowest since April last year (32%) shortly after his departure from office. In August and May, it was 36%. Fifty-six percent of respondents said investigations related to Trump should continue.

When asked about the most important issues facing the United States, threats to democracy ranked highest at 20%, followed by cost of living (18%), jobs and the economy (16%), and immigration and border issues (12%).