Biden will take office with a shop of goodwill in his corner: two-thirds of Americans approve of it (66%) of the way Biden handles the presidential transition, and his favorite rating climbed 7 points compared to a poll before the October election (59% now consider him favorable, compared to 52% then).
The public is less positive about the way the rest of elected Washington is handling the transition. Most disapprove of President Donald Trump’s belligerent handling of time since the election (70% disapprove), and his fellow Republicans in Congress deserve similar negative reviews (66% do not vote well). About half (51%) agree with the way Democrats in Congress have handled it.
Once Biden is sworn in and the results of Georgia’s Senate runoff are certified, Democrats will control the presidency, the House and the Senate. Most Americans say single-party control will be good for the country (53%), more so than those who said the same about Republican control of the presidency and Congress after the 2016 election (49%), but less than that who felt that way. on Democratic control after 2008 (59%).
Most believe it is likely that Biden will achieve several key goals, including the signing of another coronavirus stimulation bill (83% say it is very or somewhat likely), restoring relations with US allies (74%) , which ensures that 100 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine are administered according to the 100-day point of his presidency (70%) and the introduction of a government-controlled health insurance option that anyone can buy (64%).
But there is skepticism that he will be able to alleviate political divisions in the country (53% say this is unlikely). And the Republicans whom Biden will have to appeal to succeed are likely to say it will not work (88% unlikely).
The poll shows that Biden’s own views are sharply polarized, with such a large biased gap in expectations for his presidency as Trump faced at the start of his term in 2017, and drastically larger than the biased gap in expectations for Barack Obama before taking office.
Overall, 61% of adults expect Biden to do a very good or fairly good job as president, more than what was said about Trump in 2017 (48%), but far below the share that expects good things from Obama before taking office (79%).
Almost all Democrats expect Biden to do well as president, 96%, the same as what was said about Obama. But among Republicans, the share that expects Biden to do a good job as president is 40 points lower than the share that said the same about Obama (57% of Republicans said Obama would do a good job, while 17 % says Biden will do this).
That 79-point gap between Democrats and Republicans on Biden is identical to the gap between Republicans and Democrats in January 2017 over whether Trump would do a good job as president (93% of Republicans said he did a good job would do versus 14% of Democrats).
Favorable ratings for incoming Vice President Kamala Harris are higher than at any point in CNN’s poll on her. Overall, 51% have a favorable opinion, 39% an unfavorable opinion. Opinions about Harris are also divided by parties, and 90% of Democrats said they have a favorable view of her versus 9% of Republicans.
Jill Biden’s favorite rating is largely positive and about as high as that of her husband (58% have a favorable opinion of the soon-to-be first lady), with 28% expressing a negative view of her.
As was the case during last year’s presidential campaign, Democrats and Republicans live in different worlds when asked what the biggest problems are in the country.
Overall, 46% say the coronavirus outbreak is the biggest problem, with 21% choosing political division, 15% the economy, 10% racial injustice and 7% national security. Among Democrats, 65% say the coronavirus is the main problem, with racial injustice second at 16%. Among Republicans, however, 32% choose political division, 30% the economy, 25% coronavirus and less than 1% say it is racial injustice.
However, the majority of parties say that things are going badly in America today: 77% say so in general, including 91% of Democrats, 77% of Independents, and 61% of Republicans. This is the biggest share saying that things have been going badly in CNN polls since April 2009.
Republicans’ views on the state of the country have deteriorated significantly since October (from 77% who said it was going well until now 37%). This is typical of a party losing the presidency, but it is a stronger decline than among Democrats after their 2016 election loss (from 85% who said it was going well before the election to 61% before Trump’s inauguration) .
And the perception of the economy is worse than at the beginning of Trump’s term: 43% say it’s in good shape today compared to 57% in January 2017.
About 6 out of 10 in total (61%) say they think the country will be better off in four years’ time than it is today, more than was said in January 2017 (47%). But it too is divided by parties. Among Democrats, 95% say the country will be better off within four years, while 73% of Republicans believe it will be worse.
Methods
The methodology and weight for the poll has changed compared to previous CNN polls. Interviews conducted on cell phones accounted for 75% of the total, compared to 65% in previous surveys. The calls last over six days rather than four days, so more effort can be made to contact those who are not easily reachable. Demographic weight was adjusted to take into account more discrete categories of education set out by race, and a geographical weight was applied to ensure representative distribution according to population density. In addition, the results were weighted for biased identification and are slim among independents, with targets calculated using an average of the current poll plus three recent CNN polls.
The new CNN poll was conducted by SSRS from January 9 to 14 under a random national sample of 1,003 adults reached by a live interviewer on landlines or cell phones. The results for the complete sample have a sample error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.