Quick Take: Biden's Closing Argument
It's a memo from the alternate universe in which he and his party dwell
Over at CNN, President Joe Biden has an opinion piece up. He wants the American people to know that on Election Day, they face a choice. Well, no kidding! Isn’t that what elections are about?
The President’s pitch is constructed of the same old boilerplate: “Republicans in Congress are doubling down on mega, MAGA trickle-down economics that benefit the wealthy and big corporations. They’ve laid their plan out very clearly. It would raise your costs and make inflation worse.” This, incidentally, from the guy who has also criticized the GOP for having no plan. Anyhow, the President persists in touting the strength of an economy that most economists judge to be on the brink of recession.
Biden professes confidence that when they go to the polls, Americans will do the right thing: vote for the Democrats! It seems doubtful that Kathy Hochel in New York, Katie Hobbs in Arizona, Stacey Abrams in Georgia, et al. are quite so confident about that. Over the last couple of weeks, electoral momentum has shifted to the Republican Party with such force that the expected red wave could well prove to be a red tsunami. When the incumbent Democratic governor of New York is leading her GOP opponent by a mere four or five points, that’s an ominous sign for the President and his party.
And they did it to themselves. Reading today about the Biden Administration's sudden interest in supposed "junk fees," I can only shake my head over the disconnect from reality it betrays. It would be the work of a few minutes to establish that the concerns uppermost in the collective consciousness of the American people are (1) inflation, (2) crime, and (3) border security. In this election cycle nothing else matters.
But instead of grappling with these concerns, Biden and the Democrats wave them away. Are Americans concerned about inflation? It's worse in other countries! Are they worried about crime? That's a racist dog whistle! Are they mad about the situation on the country's southern border? The border is closed! This isn't even gaslighting—it's a panic flight from reality.
A political party that takes the trouble to find out what people are concerned about and crafts its election strategy accordingly may not win, but it won't be routed. A party that decides what people should care about, then scolds and nags them when they won't go along, will surely lose—and deserves to be routed.
Some other issues that lurk in the background also spell trouble for the Democrats. This will be the first post-COVID election, and it comes at a time when the collateral damage caused by lockdowns and school closures is just coming into focus. That, along with simmering discontent over the sorry state of public education and the despicable behavior of teachers’ unions may have a larger than expected impact at the state and local levels.
And you have to wonder if President Biden understands any of this: In recent weeks, his disconnect from reality has grown ever more obvious. Yes, I know, it’s part of the game to put on a happy face. But when optimistic smiles are at such variance with grim political realities, they’re not only embarrassing but disconcerting…
If the Democrats are in full salesmanship mode, they're doing a lousy job by concentrating on things that are of scant concern to most voters while studiously ignoring the things that voters really care about. That's the story of the 2022 election cycle and it's all the explanation needed for the catastrophe bearing down on the Democrats. That's my critique of their campaign strategy and really, it's genius of the manifest.
As for Biden's mega, MAGA trickle-down line, I have no gripe with it because it warms my heart to see him recycling tired old rhetoric dating back as far as the 1980s. People don't want to hear stuff like that; they want to hear what he's going to do about the issues that concern them. Raising corporate taxes may or may not be a good idea (I think it's a lousy idea) but it won't reduce the price of ground chuck at the supermarket, restore law and order in the many places around America where it has broken down, or reduce the flow of illegal immigrants across the country's southern border. The President can't even be bothered to pretend that he cares about those issues. Anyhow, if so-called trickle-down economics is "ideology," then so is its opposite. Take your pick.
One thing about critiquing political campaigns, in my opinion, is that we shouldn't make too much of the rhetoric, but look for meaningful content, assuming there is any. Because why? Well, politicians are by and large, in full-on salesman mode during a campaign. Their utterances are designed to get out the vote, stir up the loyal supporters, win over the wavering fence sitters and disparage their opponents. And do it while smiling. Americans -- and markets -- don't like to see their presidents looking worried.
About that "same old (Democratic Party) boilerplate" painting the Republican party as the one doing favors for rich guys...what's your beef with that? The "trickle-down" economic policies of the GOP have been pretty much the same line since the Reagan administration -- reduce taxes a lot for the upper income earners and a smidge for the mid and lower level earners, and lighten or abolish regulatory regimes when possible. They cannot help themselves; it's an ideology thing.