Why does anyone believe the Presidential approval ratings

[pnwmom]

are any more accurate than the polls turned out to be?

[Walleye]

1. The TV news quote those approval ratings like they were scientific fact.

Really pisses me off and now we can see they continue to fall for it

[Laura PourMeADrink]

2. Hmmm. Pushing it a bit? Only way is up though!!!

[pnwmom]

3. 538 includes Trafalgar and similar R outlets in his list of polls, even though

they've proven to be inaccurate.

Why? Why not just include traditional pollsters?

[betsuni]

4. I was listening to the news and they said something about Biden's unpopularity

and low approval ratings and to me it sounded like they may as well have said: Nobody likes Biden, ewww he's so gross.

There's no analysis.

[gratuitous]

5. And what does "approval" mean?

It can be a highly slippery concept. I approve of Joe Biden in the Oval Office rather than Donald Trump. And while I understand the limits of presidential power and the realities of dealing with Congress, I sometimes don't approve of President Biden's moves. Where do you put a person? When is the question asked? "Approval" ratings is a mug's game. President Biden has more experience than you or me or any 10 people we can name of working in the political arena. It doesn't matter, really, if I "approve" of what he's doing on one day or another; the bottom line is I trust President Biden.

[Locutusofborg]

15. The question created by George Gallup in the 1930s

"Do you approve or disapprove of the job that (name of president) is doing as president. That question has been asked monthly now for 95 years.

[elleng]

6. NO WAY.

TOTAL b.s.

[The_Casual_Observer]

7. Polls always show 20% approval rating for Congress and the pres.

It's to be expected.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

8. It's part of the message to get more ad revenue, more tax breaks, more de-regulation.

[halfulglas]

9. I think they should not have this rating for any president.

Take a poll on some specific actions of a president, but approval like as opposed to what? What do you compare him to? As a matter of fact, Joe Biden was not my first choice for president. He wasn't the first choice of most of the people I know. As a matter of fact, for the most part I'm wildly crazy about Joe Biden. I can't imagine another politician who would have handled everything that has landed in his lap as to the economy, Covid, the remnants of the insurrection, all the while deftly restoring our foreign policy from just America First (except for what Putin wants). Some people think he's not doing all this fast enough while others think he's doing it too fast. He still has so much work to do with Republicans actively working against him, taking him to court to try to reverse almost every action he takes all while they paint him as a cross between the devil himself and a doddering senile old man who is being controlled by others.

How accurate is any poll at this time for some vague approval with no metrics as to what they mean?

[True Blue American]

11. We need to take a poll on DU

As to Biden’s popularity and how many think he is brilliant and lovable. Not to mention respected.

My vote is yes, yes and yes!

How about yours?

[H2O Man]

10. I don't.

Recommended.

[iemanja]

12. They've been consistent

which to me suggests at least some accuracy. I recall that people here didn't have any trouble believing Trump's ratings.

[PSPS]

13. "Approval" polls aren't the same as votes.

I guess it keeps pundits and "experts" employed and well-paid, but these approval polls are not accurate predictors of elections these days. Why? It's really quite simple. If I'm a person who "doesn't approve" of Biden or democrats, I'm not going to march into the polling booth and just pull the GOP lever. I won't do that because I view that route as even worse than whatever it is I don't "approve" of with Biden and democrats. In other words, if my choice is between "bad" and "even worse," I'll choose bad every time. People don't want trumpism outside the increasingly-shrinking "base" of GOP support (i.e., billionaires/plutocrats, racists, authoritarians and, well, the deranged.) The House is tough to crack because its districts are illegally gerrymandered to guarantee the GOP more seats than it deserves especially when voter suppression and other selective disenfranchisement is involved.

[iemanja]

14. well said. nt

[Silent3]

16. I don't think a lot of people differentiate between being asked...

..."Do you approve of the job the President is doing?" and "Are you happy with the way things are going in the country?", as if everything should be blamed on or (much less often) credited to the current President. Perhaps a poll with more probing questions could get beyond that.

A binary approve/disapprove question, or even one slightly expansive that includes "strongly" options, doesn't really tell you a lot either.

I'll bet that most of the disapproval of Biden is at the "meh" level, whereas a lot of the current and former disapproval of Trump is gut-wrenching disgust, something which can't be read from these simplistic polls.