Perceived focus matters: he gets much more overall disapproval from people who don’t think he’s focused enough on inflation or the economy. That’s true even if you control for partisanship.

When we ask people what could change their minds from here, the answers center on inflation, not legislation. His detractors say they’d think better of him if he manages to get inflation down — and say so at more than twice the rate than if the Build Back Better bill passes, or if voting rights does, for that matter. In all, the public’s evaluations of him appear framed around their most pressing problems, more so than on the fate of his bills in Congress.

Compared to fixing the economy or managing the pandemic, it’s not clear the passage of Build Back Better, if it happens, would immediately boost his numbers. For people who disapprove of him, they say their view of him would improve if he gets inflation down, much more so than if he passes the bill.