The numbers haven’t been good for Democrats regarding the coming midterms for a long time. Going back to last August, we’ve seen Joe Biden’s approval collapse, dragging down his party members with him. Republicans now have a commanding lead on the generic ballot, the likes of which they haven’t seen in many cycles (including the 2010 red wave).
For their part, Democrats have been desperately looking for a way out, talking to consultants and trying to strategize a plan to make up lost ground. With the recent spate of House retirements, though, it feels like there’s a shift happening regarding expectations. Now, we are getting further evidence of that.
“He has blind spots with staff,” said a second White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the record. “He should not have the second-worst approval rating of all time given the positive things that he’s done. If that were me, I would re-evaluate the advice that I’m getting and the people that I surround myself with. I don’t see that happening.”
The same official lamented a sense of strategic drift and said that “everyone’s resigned” to Democrats’ getting thwacked in the midterms.
“It feels like there is a wave coming and no one is doing anything to stop it,” the official said.
Here’s the problem for Democrats, including this White House official — Biden hasn’t actually done a lot of positive things as president. Looking at his record objectively, he’s passed a boondoggle, COVID-19 relief bill that has led to massive inflation, and that’s about it. No one cares about the infrastructure bill (which was bipartisan anyway), and besides that, his record is littered with failures, from the lagging economy to the border crisis to Afghanistan.
That’s the delusions I’m talking about in my headline for this article — this ridiculous idea that Biden has actually been a good president, but he just needs better messengers. Yes, his staffing choices have mostly been crap, but the results of his presidency would be speaking for themselves no matter who he had working for him.
There is no sugarcoating the 7.5 percent, year-over-year inflation that is eating up savings and middle-class buying power. There is no sugarcoating Russia being on the march because of Biden’s fecklessness. You can’t gloss over illegal border crossings being at astronomical levels, while major crime rates skyrocket across the country. Those are realities that simply exist — irrespective of the messaging coming from the White House.
As I’ve said before, once an electoral wave begins to build, it’s almost unheard of for it to be quelled. Given that, there is no argument that the current political environment is somehow ripe for a Democrat turnaround. What would that even look like? Does anyone believe that Americans are going to give Biden and his party credit for the Omicron wave naturally residing? Or is it more likely they’ll have long memories about what they were put through by Democrats? I’d confidently assert the latter to be what happens, and other than that, there’s no issue I can think of that’s set up for Democrats to claim a big win on.
So, while acceptance of what’s going to happen in November is part of the process for the left, there’s no actual evidence any lessons have been learned. Sure, there’s talk of changing messaging, yet Democrat policies remain radical and ever more alienating of normal Americans, both economically and culturally. Another faux victory lap over COVID-19 won’t cover up that stink