The Wall Street Journal has released its first election poll of this cycle. Not only is it more extensive than some past surveys this year, but it delivered some very interesting results. For example, one question measured what issue Americans believe should be the top priority of a president. We’ll get to that in a moment — because it shows how screwed Democrats are.

But first, let’s get to the topline numbers. As expected, they were just terrible for the president. Joe Biden, in all his glory, clocked in at only a 41 percent approval rating. But perhaps worse, the disapproval rating was an astronomical 57 percent.

NEW: First @WSJ poll shows President Biden with 41% approval of his job performance, 57% disapprove. Details via @aaronzitner https://t.co/vbJAzSVcOP

— Ken Thomas (@KThomasDC) December 7, 2021

It gets worse, though. When you drill down, Biden is 36 points underwater with independents, a number probably not thought possible just 10 months ago, as talk of him being a uniquely unifying figure still dominated the news. The rate and depth of the president’s collapse in public approval is truly something to behold.

HOLY…@JoeBiden is -36 with independent voters in a new WSJ survey.

Only 30% approve and 66% disapprove.

Republicans hold massive leads on:
– Rebuilding the Economy
– Getting inflation under control
– Securing the borderhttps://t.co/0kkdiPJrYg

— Michael McAdams (@M_McAdams) December 7, 2021

As mentioned, Republicans lead on the issues that also happen to be leading the news, day in and day out. Obviously, that’s the economy as a whole, but the inflation crisis is also a big subset of that, with middle-class families feeling the pinch. And while I don’t have the numbers yet, rumor has it that Friday’s inflation report is going to be the worst yet, likely only exacerbating Biden’s decline, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, Republicans enjoy a modest lead on the generic ballot going into 2022, garnering 44 percent compared to 41 percent for Democrats. That’s a number that points to a large red wave as the GOP has often lagged on the generic ballot compared to the actual results (mainly because Congress is not elected based on a national popular vote). The right track/wrong track numbers didn’t provide hope for Democrats either, with 63 percent saying the country is headed in the wrong direction. For obvious reasons, the party in power typically pays the price for such a dismal showing.

Then there was the question of what issues matter the most to people. Again, things that are typically seen as “right-leaning” issues top the list, with immigration taking first place, followed by the economy in general and inflation. Remember, those are all problems that the American people trust Republicans more to fix compared to Democrats by a wide margin.

I find this FASCINATING from the new WSJ poll out today. Question was "What is the most important issue that you want the President and U.S. Congress to make a priority?" pic.twitter.com/U9YogwwqZk

— Philly Cent (@RealPhillyP) December 7, 2021

Surprisingly, the situation in Afghanistan comes in at a whopping 0 percent, so while that travesty may have been a big reason for Biden’s initial collapse some months ago, it appears that other issues are now at the forefront of most people’s minds. That China doesn’t register is a bit disconcerting, but given this is only a ranking of top issues, Americans very well could still have a decent understanding of the threat posed.

Past that, another gut punch for Democrats is delivered by abortion coming in at just 1 percent. For a few days, many on the left were bleating that the Supreme Court possibly gutting Roe v. Wade would represent a turnaround moment for their 2022 chances. That doesn’t appear to be the case, a reality I discussed some days ago.

In the end, there’s just nothing really positive for Joe Biden and his party in this poll. Yes, there’s one result that purports to show that passing the “Build Back Better” bill would help the president with undecideds, but that’s a small contingent of those surveyed. We also heard the same assertion about the bipartisan infrastructure bill. How’d that work out? People don’t care about Biden’s broader “agenda” if inflation is eating away at their wallets.

So is the red wave coming? If these results continue to be representative, the answer is a resounding yes. Obviously, the caveat applies that things could change, but I would not put my money on Democrats making a historic comeback here. You’d do better dropping it on a random number at the roulette table.