WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Democrats now believe one term is enough for President Joe Biden, despite his insistence that he plans to seek re-election in 2024.

That’s according to a new Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center poll that shows just 37% of Democrats want him to run for a second term, up from 52% in the weeks leading up to last year’s midterms.

While Biden has trumpeted his legislative victories and ability to govern, the poll shows that relatively few American adults give him high marks on any of these issues. Follow-up interviews with survey respondents show that many believe that being 80 is a disadvantage, with people focusing on his cough, his gait, his gaffes, and the possibility that the hardest job in the world is more suitable for someone younger. .

“Honestly, I think he would be too old,” said Sarah Overman, 37, an education Democrat in Raleigh, North Carolina. “We could use someone younger in the office.”

On Tuesday, when the president addresses Congress, he has a chance to face fundamental doubts about his ability to govern the country. Biden has previously leaned heavily on his track record, saying he is more than up to the task. When asked if he could handle the responsibilities of the office at his age, the President often responded as if he were up for a challenge: “Look at me.”

Democratic candidates fared better than expected in the 2022 midterm elections, indicative of Biden’s claim to be defending democracy and uplifting the middle class. The Democrats extended their control of the Senate by one seat and nearly lost their majority in the House of Representatives, even though history indicated there would be a wave of Republicans.

The poll shows that overall, 41% approve of the way Biden is handling his job as president, which is similar to the ratings at the end of last year. Most Democrats still approve of Biden’s performance as president, but their appetite for a re-election campaign has waned despite his electoral record. Only 22% of American adults overall say he should run again, compared with 29% who said so ahead of last year’s midterms.

The decline among Democrats saying Biden should run for president again seems to be concentrated among the youth. Among Democrats aged 45 and over, 49% believe Biden should run for a second term, nearly as many as the 58% who said so in October. But among those under 45, 23% now say he should run for re-election, after 45% said before the interim terms.

Linda Lockwood, a Democrat and retiree from Kansas City, Kansas, said she’s not that worried about Biden’s age.

“He’s in pretty good shape in my opinion, and this is a 76-year-old woman speaking,” Lockwood said. “You can be a little more careful going down stairs as you get older, but if your brain is still working, that’s the important part.”

Biden, already the oldest president in US history, is haunted by questions about his age, as he would be 86 years old if he served a full eight years as president. He often works all day, standing for hours, remembering the names of strangers he meets on his travels who want to share their life story with him.

Still, he’s been a national political figure for half a century, having first been elected to the Senate from Delaware in 1972, and the moments when he gets lost on stage or stumbles in speeches can get more attention than his politics.

On CNN Sunday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who was seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, acknowledged that “generational arguments can be strong.”

“The strongest argument is the results,” said Buttigieg, 41. 12 million jobs have been created under this president.”

Voters such as 35-year-old Ross Truckee kept a close eye on the president. A Michigan lawyer, Truckee did not vote for either Biden or Republican Donald Trump in 2020. It seems to him that Biden was the latest in a series of “poor-quality” presidents.

“His age and perhaps his mental abilities do not correspond to the level at which I would like to see the leader of the country,” Truckee said. “At times he seems like an old man who has already passed his prime. Sometimes I feel a little sorry for the guy who gets pushed out in front of the crowd.”

Biden has repeatedly stressed in his speeches that it is important for the public to know everything that his administration is doing. He has scored four major legislative victories with coronavirus relief, a bipartisan infrastructure bill, the CHIPS and Science Act, and tax and spending measures that help fight climate change and improve the IRS’s ability to enforce the tax code and help taxpayers.

However, only 13% are completely confident in Biden’s ability to achieve major political goals, a possible reflection of the fact that he now has to work with a Republican majority in the House of Representatives who want to cut spending in exchange for removing the government’s legitimate borrowing power. .

The poll also shows that only 23% of US adults say they “largely” trust Biden to run the White House effectively. That rate is down from 28% a year ago and remains well below 44% two years ago, when Biden took office.

Only 21% are confident in Biden’s ability to cope with the crisis, which is slightly lower than in March last year (26%).

When it comes to working with Republicans in Congress and managing public spending, about half of American adults say they have little trust in the president, and only about 1 in 10 say they have a lot of trust.

Republican voters are unwilling to trust Biden, hurting his ratings.

John Rodriguez, 76, has backed Trump and suggests Biden is simply following orders from his aides. This creates a challenge for the president, who has promised to unite the country.

“I don’t think he’s in charge,” said Rodriguez, who lives in Cutler Bay, Florida. “He is a puppet who is told where to go and what to say.”

But Biden’s biggest hurdle could be voters like Vikram Joglekar, 46, who works in the computer industry in Austin, Texas. He endorsed the president in 2020 only to summarize his feelings about Biden’s tenure as “aha.”

“It’s not up to me to decide whether someone should run or not,” Yoglekar said. “I don’t know who will be on the ballot, but I hope it will be someone better from his party.”

The survey of 1,068 adults was conducted January 26-30 using a sample drawn from the AmeriSpeak NORC probability panel, which is designed to represent the US population. The sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

Follow AP’s country coverage at: