By Dave Andrusko

I carefully read the latest New York Times/ Siena College poll as well as commenters who were attempting to explain pro-abortion President Joe Biden slicing into the advantage pro-life President Donald Biden enjoyed last month. The advantage was five points, now it’s a single point.

Here’s the headline: “Biden Shrinks Trump’s Edge in Latest Times/Siena Poll.”

Here’s the subhead: “The president’s popularity has ticked up slightly, though voters still view Donald J. Trump more favorably and have dour views of the economy.”

That’s the tone, if not contradiction, of the story: Biden has edged up but Trump is ahead—way ahead— in many crucially important issues.

What’s the primary explanation for Biden’s improved numbers, according to the survey?

Mr. Biden’s tick upward appears to stem largely from his improved standing among traditional Democratic voters — he is winning a greater share of voters who supported him in 2020 than he did a month ago. Then, Mr. Trump had secured the support of far more of his past voters compared with the president — 97 percent to 83 percent — but that margin has narrowed. Mr. Biden is now winning 89 percent of his 2020 supporters compared with 94 percent for Mr. Trump. 

With that in mind, Guy Benson responds

The country’s mood is not great, and the electorate is not thrilled with its choices, according to the data, described this way by the Times: “The share of voters who view the nation as headed in the wrong direction remains a high 64 percent. Almost 80 percent of voters still rate the nation’s economic conditions as fair or poor, including a majority of Democrats. And both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump remain unpopular, for familiar reasons. Most voters think Mr. Biden is too old. A majority believe Mr. Trump has committed serious federal crimes.”

And the public is squarely in Trump’s corner—”Trump commands sizable advantages”—on the two leading issues:

Voters in the poll gave Mr. Trump’s and Mr. Biden’s handling of the economy almost perfectly inverted ratings: 64 percent approved of Mr. Trump’s handling of the issue as president and 63 percent disapprove of Mr. Biden’s job on the issue now. Immigration gave Mr. Trump his other biggest edge among a host of issues voters were asked about in the survey. Border crossings hit record highs at the end of last year. A slim majority approved of Mr. Trump’s handling of immigration as president, while 64 percent of voters disapproved of Mr. Biden’s job on those [immigration-related] matters.

To be more precise, Benson notes

Biden’s approval rating on the economy is (-24), while it’s a whopping (+26) for Trump. On immigration, Biden is underwater by 32 percentage points, whereas Trump is (+5) on the issue.

 Finally, Ryan Saavedra has the bottom, bottom line:

New numbers from a New York Times/Siena College poll of 1,059 registered voters conducted April 7 to 11, 2024 42% said Trump was good for America 25% said Biden was good for America 33% said Trump was bad for America 46% said Biden was bad for America.”

As one commenter quipped, all those advantages and Trump is still only one point ahead?!

Doesn’t compute.