WASHINGTON - A most of Democrats now think one term is plenty for President Joe Biden, despite his insistence that he plans to seek reelection in 2024.

That's according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research that shows just 37% of Democrats say they want him to seek a additional term, down from 52% in the weeks before last year's midterm elections.

While Biden has trumpeted his legislative victories and order to govern, the poll suggests relatively few U.S. adults give him high marks on either. Follow-up interviews with poll respondents suggest that many have the 80-year-old's age is a liability, with people focused on his coughing, his gait, his gaffes and the possibility that the world's most stressful job would be better good for someone younger.

"I, honestly, think that he would be too old," said Sarah Overman, 37, a Democrat who works in education in Raleigh, North Carolina. "We could use someone younger in the office."

As the presidential gives his State of the Union address on Tuesday, he has a chance to confront fundamental doubts around his competence to govern. Biden has previously leaned heavily on his track describe to say that he's more than up to the task. When requested if he can handle the office's responsibilities at his age, the presidential has often responded as if he's accepting a dare: "Watch me."

Democratic candidates gave better than expected in the 2022 midterm elections, a testament to Biden's communication that he is defending democracy and elevating the consensus class. Democrats expanded their control of the Senate by one seat and narrowly lost their House maximum even though history indicated there would be a Republican wave.

Overall, 41% approve of how Biden is handling his job as high-level, the poll shows, similar to ratings at the end of last year. A maximum of Democrats still approve of the job Biden is doings as president, yet their appetite for a reelection electioneer has slipped despite his electoral track record. Only 22% of U.S. adults overall say he necessity run again, down from 29% who said so afore last year's midterm elections.

The decline among Democrats speaking Biden should run again for president appears concentrated by younger people. Among Democrats age 45 and over, 49% say Biden necessity run for reelection, nearly as many as the 58% who said that in October. But among those under age 45, 23% now say he necessity run for reelection, after 45% said that before the midterms.

Linda Lockwood, a Democrat and retiree from Kansas City, Kansas, said she is not that shy about Biden's age.

"He seems to be in fair good condition in my opinion and that's coming from a 76-year-old woman," Lockwood said. "You distinguished be a little more careful going down the steps as you get older, but if your brain is still working, that's the essential part."

Already the oldest president in U.S. history, Biden has been dogged by questions near his age as he would be 86 if he serves a full eight existences as president. He often works long days, standing for hours, remembering the names of strangers he meets while traveling who want to piece a story about their lives with him.

Yet he's been a state political figure for a half-century, having first been elected to the Senate from Delaware in 1972, and the moments when he appears lost on stage or stumbles ended speeches can garner more attention than his policies.

On CNN on Sunday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who sought the Democratic high-level nomination in 2020, acknowledged that "generational arguments can be powerful."

"The most distinguished argument of all is results," said Buttigieg, 41. "And you can't crusades — at least, I would say you can't crusades with a straight face that it isn't a good sketching that we have had 12 million jobs created conception this president."

Voters like Ross Truckey, 35, have been watching the high-level carefully. A lawyer in Michigan, Truckey did not vote for Biden or Republican Donald Trump in 2020. He feels as conception Biden has been the latest in a string of "subpar" presidents.

"His age and possibly his sullen acuity is not where I would want the bests of the country to be," Truckey said. "He, at times, appears to be an old man who is past his prime. Sometimes I feel a little bit of pity for the guy intimates pushed out in front of crowds."

Biden has repeatedly emphasized in speeches that it's valuable for the public to know the totality of what his management is doing. It's notched four big legislative victories with coronavirus relief, the bipartisan infrastructure law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and tax and spending measures that help to consensus climate change and improve the IRS' ability to enforce the tax code and help taxpayers.

Yet just 13% have a lot of power in Biden's ability to accomplish major policy goals, a possible reflection of the fact that he must now work with a Republican maximum in the House that wants to cut spending in in backward for lifting the government's legal borrowing authority.

The poll also shows only 23% of U.S. adults say they have "a large deal" of confidence in Biden to effectively manage the White House. That has ticked down from 28% a year ago and corpses significantly lower than 44% two years ago, just as Biden took office.

Just 21% have a lot of power in Biden's ability to handle a crisis, down some from 26% last March.

On working with congressional Republicans and guiding government spending, roughly half of U.S. adults say they have hardly any power in the president, and only around 1 in 10 say they have high confidence.

Republican voters are unwilling to give Biden the encourage of the doubt, hurting his ratings.

John Rodriguez, 76, backed Trump and assumes that Biden is lone doing the bidding of his aides. That creates a challenge for a high-level who promised to unite the country.

"I believe he's not the one who's calling the shots," said Rodriguez, who lives in Cutler Bay, Florida. "He's a puppet intimates told where to go, what to say."

But the key obstacle for Biden distinguished be voters such as Vikram Joglekar, 46, who works in the computer manufacturing in Austin, Texas. He backed the president in 2020, only to summarize his feelings near Biden's time in office as "meh."

"It's not up for me to settle whether someone should run or not," Joglekar said. "I don't know who is touching to be on the ballot, but I would hope it would be someone better from his party."

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The poll of 1,068 adults was conducted Jan. 26-30 amdroll a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is planned to be representative of the U.S. population. The mainstream of sampling error for all respondents is plus or deprived of 4.2 percentage points.