In fact, Trump may even benefit politically from some of what’s happening. A Harvard/Harris poll found that a large majority don’t believe Putin would have ordered the invasion of Ukraine under Trump. Asked in a HarrisX poll whose policies were more to blame for the war, 58 percent picked Biden and only 42 percent said Trump. Among independents, a critical voting bloc in this year’s midterm elections, the split was 66 percent Biden to 34 percent Trump.

Unfortunately for Biden, this isn’t the only international conflict that has tarnished his standing with voters, as majorities disapprove of the job he is doing on foreign policy more broadly. His overall job approval rating first began its descent after the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.

And Biden’s Russia struggles come as other long-buried political problems associated with a Democratic Party that leans too far left have risen from the dead. Inflation is a top issue for voters and a drag on Biden’s numbers as consumer prices — particularly at the gas pump — skyrocket. That’s a problem that sank President Jimmy Carter, one of the most liberal presidents of the last half-century, and it is viewed by voters now as an even bigger concern than Russia.