By drawing attention to himself and his failed policies just when the GOP was imploding over Trump, Biden risks snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the 2022 midterms.
Abraham Lincoln famously said: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”
President Biden is fooling no one, except maybe himself. Consequently, he is getting what he deserves. He is getting his just deserts. He is getting his comeuppance.
How so? By taking the spotlight off of Trump and drawing attention to himself and his dismal record as president, Biden is paving the way for GOP Senate and House victories in November.
Biden’s Barren Political Soul. The site was Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sept. 1, 2022. There, Biden pretended to deliver a statesman-like, non-partisan presidential address about the “soul of the nation” and the fate of American democracy.
In truth, Biden delivered a rankly partisan campaign speech designed to demonize his Republican opponents and motivate his Democratic base, while using young enlisted Marines as political campaign props.
Biden may have motivated hardline “progressives,” but they are going to vote Democrat anyway, just as they did in 2020 when Biden kept a low profile, hid in his basement, and let Trump become the issue.
Not any more. An emboldened Biden has decided to become the Democratic point man who takes the fight to the Republicans.
Problem is: Biden’s slash-and-burn rhetorical attacks have drawn the righteous ire of Republicans and even the disapproval of liberal reporters and editorialists at CNN and the Washington Post.
Consequently, this time, Biden and the Dems may not sleepwalk their way to an easy victory as they did in 2020. This time, they may have to fight it out in the political arena and on substantive issues of public policy, not Trump’s noxious and repugnant personality.
But given the state of the economy, that’s easier said than done.
Dem Policy Disaster. Biden and the Dems’ wild and reckless spending schemes, coupled with their war on U.S. energy producers, have ignited the worst inflation in 40 years. Gas prices reached a record high before declining and a recession is looming.
China, meanwhile, threatens Taiwan; Russia is waging war on Ukraine; and Iran and North Korea are on the brink of deploying nuclear weapons.
Is it any surprise, then, that Biden’s approval rating is a mere 43 percent and has been mired in the low 40s for some time now?
GOP political strategist Karl Rove notes that “President Trump’s average at this same point in 2018 was 40.3%. Republicans lost 42 House seats that November.
“Does a roughly 2- [or 3]-point difference between Mr. Biden’s approval now and Mr. Trump’s then mean Democrats can turn defeat into a historic victory?” Rove asks. Color me—and Rove—skeptical.
The bottom line: by drawing attention to himself and his disastrous record as President, Biden may have sown the seeds of Democratic defeat come November. And for that, he has no one to blame but himself.
Feature photo credit: Biden delivering his “soul of the nation” speech Sept. 1, 2022, at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, courtesy of the New York Times.