If you are faced with the real possibility of a crushing failure in a cherished endeavor, you generally have a few options.
On the one hand, you could admit defeat and bow out gracefully, preserving your dignity by knowing when to quit.
On the other hand, you could re-evaluate your strategy, asking yourself deep, soul-searching questions as to the reason for your impending failure, and strive to reverse course before it's too late.
Or you could just stubbornly maintain that nothing has failed, your strategy is perfect and any evidence to the contrary is just wrong.
Guess which path President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats have chosen when faced with disastrous poll numbers heading into this fall's elections?
During his interview with CNN anchor Erin Burnett on May 8, Biden bristled at the thought that he was trailing former President Donald Trump and very well could lose to him in November.
🇺🇲 NATIONAL POLL: Harvard/Harris
🟥 Trump 49% [+1]
🟦 Biden 43% [=]
—
With leans
🟥 Trump 53% [+1]
🟦 Biden 47% [-1]
Was Trump +2 in March
—
🟥 Trump 45% [=]
🟦 Biden 40% [-1]
🟨 RFK Jr. 14% [=]
—
[+/- change vs April]
—
Job approval
Presiden Biden: 45-54 (-9)
Trump recalled:… pic.twitter.com/ue1tQUfDHY
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) May 20, 2024
In the interview, Burnett cited all manner of terrible economic statistics that explained people's dissatisfaction with the economy.
“When you talk about the economy, of course, it is by far the most important issue for voters," she said. "It is also true right now, Mr. President, that voters by a wide margin trust Trump more on the economy. They say that in polls, and part of the reason for that may be the numbers.”
Burnett then recounted the grim figures.
“The cost of buying a home in the United States is double what it was when you look at your monthly cost from before the pandemic,” she said. “Real income when you account for inflation is actually down since you took office. Economic growth last week — far short of expectations. Consumer confidence, maybe no surprise, is near a two-year low.
"With less than six months to go to Election Day, are you worried that you’re running out of time to turn that around?"
And Biden's delusional answer?
"We've already turned it around!" he said.
After citing a survey claiming that most Americans thought they were "personally in good shape," the president declared other poll results to be inaccurate.
"The polling data has been wrong all along," Biden said. "How many -- you guys do a poll at CNN. How many folks you have to call to get one response?
"The idea that we’re in a situation where things are so bad, the folks that -- I mean, we've created more jobs. We've made -- we’re in a situation where people have access to good-paying jobs."
One might be tempted to ask Biden what color the sky is in his world, but the octogenarian president has not been alone in his denial.
As Axios reported Sunday, many Democratic senators have echoed his words denying the accuracy of polls that predict a victory for Trump.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan told the outlet point blank, "No, I do not think that they are accurate."
Meanwhile, Raphael Warnock of Georgia cited anecdotal examples of folks who were down in the polls but ended up winning elections.
I'm fine with letting them believe their imaginary world 😎
— Johnny Hawes ✝️•🇺🇸 (@johnnyh996) May 19, 2024
Now, obviously, polls are imperfect, and many have been wildly wrong in the past. Remember Democrats' shock and disbelief that Trump beat Hillary Clinton in 2016?
But with even The New York Times' polls showing Biden trailing the GOP candidate in five key swing states, and polls from other liberal outlets -- including CNN \-- also showing Trump gains, Biden and the Democrats' denial has seemed less prudent and more foolish.
Moreover, as the Times' Ezra Klein noted in his Sunday column, not only was the president's claim regarding the polls in his CNN interview false on its face, but whenever the polls have been wrong in recent years, it has been in favor of Democrats, not Republicans.
The fact is, while not wholly accurate, polls have generally given a good reading on what the country believes and how it feels.
And, based on the polls, Americans have grown fed up with Biden's disastrous presidency.
During his time in the White House, America's status on the global stage has declined, crime has increased and the economy has hit the skids.
Anyone still living in the real world, regardless of his or her political loyalties, realized this long ago.
Perhaps the Democrats would like to come back to that world and recognize they might very well lose.
