Biden's State of the Union Unlikely to Boost Approval Ratings, History Shows
-
Commentators set unrealistic expectations that Biden's State of the Union speech would significantly improve his approval ratings.
-
Historically, State of the Union speeches rarely lead to meaningful improvements in presidential approval.
-
Instant speech reaction polls show positive responses but don't correlate with approval rating changes.
-
Speech audiences tend to be small and concentrated among older, firmly partisan viewers.
-
More enduring rating changes require full-fledged campaigns reaching wider swaths of persuadable voters over time.