Presidential preference polls come and go, and their results swing back and forth.

But there’s one assessment during a presidential election that has proven over and over to be an indicator of victory for the incumbent – or not.

The approval rating of the one sitting in the Oval Office.

Washington Examiner columnist Paul Bedard reports, “Head-to-head presidential preference polls are all the rage, but ever since Dwight D. Eisenhower’s reelection in 1956, the pros have looked to approval ratings as the key to an incumbent’s chances. And for President Joe Biden, the numbers look bad.”

He noted Biden’s approval rating “is about 10 points under the previous record low of a winning incumbent.”

There’s only a few months left to improve his image in the eyes of millions of voters, and some reports already have accused Biden of essentially trying to buy the votes of young Americans by announcing his multiple student-loan “forgiveness” schemes, some of which already have been struck down by the courts.

They’re actually not “forgiveness” plans; they just transfer the liabilities for the loans from those who borrowed the money to taxpayers who didn’t.

The previously low approval rating for an incumbent who was able to win was George W. Bush, whose approval was only 48%.

A new Hill/DDHQ survey shows that now, only 38.6% of respondents approve of Biden.

The report explained, “Bush had the lowest approval rating in decades, but a recent Gallup analysis noted that ‘he registered multiple 50% readings earlier in the month and had a 51% approval rating among likely voters in that final survey.’ Biden hasn’t seen 50% since late July 2021.”

Who had a similar approval to Biden? Jimmy Carter, who was at 37%. Of course, he lost in a landslide to President Ronald Reagan.

Further, Biden is facing headwinds among voters for his disastrous economy – inflation has totaled some 19% since he took office, his foreign affairs failures, his open borders demands, as well as his inordinate focus on issues like abortion and transgenderism.

Gallup sounded off on the issue: “Biden’s reelection chances do not look very favorable in early 2024. His job approval rating is lower than all recent incumbents at the same point, including those who ultimately lost the election, and key national mood indicators are more in line with those for past losers than winners.”

A report at PJMedia pointed out the number “is what should terrify team Biden.”

It continued, “If Biden’s reelection chances hinge on his ability to pull off a comeback and get back over 50% approval, then he’d have to pull off the greatest comeback in history. Does anyone believe he can actually do that? This week, we learned that economic growth slowed in the first quarter of 2024 while inflation grew, sparking concerns of stagflation and possibly a recession. Meanwhile, concerns about Biden’s advanced age and cognitive health persist. His recent reading of a stage direction during speech certainly didn’t help. Meanwhile, Biden is struggling with the Israel-Hamas situation, as the antisemitic wing of his party has forced him to take a more aggressive approach to Israel publicly, which may be backfiring.”