Poll: Americans not sold on Biden's pledge of 'unity' after first 3 weeks in office

As US President Joe Biden is about to mark three weeks as president, the country he is governing isn't sold on his "unity" talk, especially women and younger voters.

A new Zogby Poll found that only 44 percent of likely voters thought Biden could unite America, while 39 percent do not think he can unite the country and 17 percent are unsure.

While Biden's partisan base is hopeful, most Americans are not, especially younger voters and women.

"While the Democratic base believed the new president can pull off the difficult task of bridging the political divide in the United States, surprisingly, two groups who really helped Biden secure the presidency had the least faith in his ability to unite the country: voters under the age of 50 and suburban women," Zogby told The Washington Examiner.

"Do they doubt his ability to cross the aisle and be the deal-maker of yonder, or do younger and suburban voters believe the political fractures are too deep to heal? President Biden has a tough task in front of him, and one that will undoubtedly test his will and the soul of the nation,"

Zogby also cites Biden's excessive use of executive orders to scrap Trump administration policies and implement his own pet schemes outside of the legislative method has harmed the unity efforts. Biden has signed more than 40 executive actions and orders in less than three weeks.

The poll also found that the country is not as hopeful about Biden's agenda. A whopping 61 percent of those surveyed believe the country is headed down the wrong direction, while only 29 percent see it as going in the right direction. Ten percent are unsure.

"To put voters' sentiment in perspective and to understand the context of the current right direction/wrong track numbers, we have to go back three presidents and to our catalog of data on the direction of the U.S. During the Bush years, which were ripe with controversy and political rancor, the right direction number dipped to 16%/74% wrong track during May and June of 2008, and during the Obama presidency, the right direction figure reached 22%/68% wrong track in December 2010 during the Great Recession," adds Zogby.

It is, however, expected that the numbers will improve in the next six months, as vaccinations ramp up and states end lockdowns. In six months, the poll expects to find that 45 percent of Americans to feel the country is headed in the right direction, versus 39 percent thinking it's going in the wrong one.