Donald Trump would be on track to win a historic landslide in November ā€” if so many US voters didnā€™t find him personally repugnant.

Roughly 53 percent of Americans have anĀ unfavorable opinionĀ of the former president. And yet, when asked about Trumpā€™s ability to handle key issues ā€” or the impact of hisĀ policiesĀ ā€”Ā voters routinelyĀ giveĀ the Republican candidate higher marks thanĀ President Biden.

In aĀ YouGov surveyĀ released this month, Trump boasted an advantage over Biden on 10 of the 15 issues polled. On the three issues that votersĀ routinely nameĀ as top priorities ā€” theĀ economy, immigration, and inflation ā€” respondents said that Trump would do a better job by double-digit margins.

Meanwhile, in aĀ recent New York Times/Siena College poll,Ā 40 percent of voters said that Trumpā€™s policies had helped them personally, while just 18 percent said the same of Biden. If Americans could elect a normal human being with Trumpā€™s reputation for being ā€œtoughā€ on immigration and good at economics, they would almost certainly do so.

Biden is fortunate that voters do not have that option. But to erase Trumpā€™sĀ small but stubborn leadĀ in the polls, the president needs to erode his GOP rivalā€™s advantage on the issues.

  • ClanOfTheOcho@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Itā€™s not as simple as people pretend. But not all that complicated, either. 65 was the ā€œfullā€ retirement age before law changes in the 80s. For most workers today, itā€™s 67. But wait! The amount you will get per month from social security depends on 2 things ā€“ how much you paid into the system, and what age you actually are when you retire. You can start collecting at 62, but it will be considerably less per month than if you retire at the full retirement age. And to confuse things more, you can keep working until 70(?) and the amount you will get continues to increase every month, so Iā€™m not sure why full retirement age is 67 instead of 70.