President Joe Biden has a problem with the Democratic base when it comes to the Israel-Hamas War. It’s not just that his approval rating on the conflict is lower among Democrats than his overall approval rating. It’s that his base is divided – by age.
Younger Democrats are far more likely than older Democrats to view Israel skeptically when it comes to this war as well as the larger geopolitical context. The intra-party age gaps on this question are amongst the largest I’ve ever seen on any important issue.
Take a look at a recent Quinnipiac University poll on the topic. Biden’s approval rating for his handling of the Israel-Hamas War among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters is just 56%. Compare that to his 76% approval rating among Democratic voters for his overall job performance.
A significant minority of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters (36%) disapprove of his handling of the war. Those voters tend to be young.
The lion’s share (69%) of Democrats and Democratic-leaning younger than 35 disapprove of how Biden is responding to the war. Just 24% approve. It’s the inverse among older Democrats. Most Democrats 65 and older (77%) approve of Biden on this issue. Few (16%) disapprove.
The cause of the split is pretty clear when you dig deeper into the data. Biden has been, by most neutral accounts, more sympathetic to Israel than Palestinians during the war. That doesn’t sit well with younger Democrats.
When asked which side they sympathize with, Israelis or Palestinians, more, Democrats younger than 35 are far more likely to sympathize with Palestinians (74%) than Israelis (16%). Democrats 65 and older are somewhat more likely to side with Israelis (45%) than Palestinians (25%).
The large divide by age causes Democrats and Democratic leaning voters overall to split basically evenly, with 39% sympathizing…
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