Democrats weighed down by Biden scramble for message | The Hill
Category: News & Politics
Via: texan1211 • 2 years ago • 31 commentsBy: Alexander Bolton (The Hill)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
by Alexander Bolton - 04/11/22 5:30 AM ET
Democrats are scrambling for a message to break through to voters as the days tick down to the midterm elections and President Biden's approval rating remains mired at around 40 percent.
They got a wake-up call in last year's state-level races in New Jersey and Virginia, two bellwether states that signaled a coming Republican tidal wave in the 2010 midterm elections, when then-President Obama was also struggling with a low approval rating.
Yet months after losing the Virginia governor's race, and almost losing New Jersey's, the political picture for Democrats hasn't gotten better. Instead, Biden's numbers have gotten worse.
"The political environment as indicated or revealed by Biden's approval is basically the same or worse than it was five months ago," said Kyle Kondik, an analyst at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. Kondik pointed out that Biden's average approval rating in November stood at 43 percent and has since dipped closer to 40 percent.
"Democrats really need Biden's numbers to get better. You're sort of running out of time for that to happen," he said.
The nation added 431,000 jobs in March and gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 7 percent in the fourth quarter, but Biden is still getting low marks for his handling of the economy — a 36 percent approval rating, according to an average compiled by RealClearPolitics.
Democratic lawmakers say the two biggest problems the president faces are that Americans are sick and tired of the COVID-19 pandemic, now stretching into its third year, and frustrated by rising prices, especially at the pump.
"There's no question the successes of the economy is not being reflected in the polling of the president. So that is a more of a communications challenge for us," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the chairwoman of the Senate Democrats' Policy and Communications Committee.
Despite Democrats' efforts to bring attention to their accomplishments of the past 14 months, Stabenow acknowledged that inflation is "what everybody is talking about."
"Prices are up because of supply-chain breakdowns. The next thing we're doing is we're laser-focused on lowering costs," she said. "There's price gouging going on, number one. And we don't set gas prices, they're set by oil companies who got 9,000 leases that they're not drilling on, that they could."
Senate and House Democrats have talked about suspending the federal gas tax, imposing a windfall profits tax on energy companies, enacting social spending programs to reduce the out-of-pocket costs of American families and passing prescription drug reform.
But none of those ideas are getting much public attention or seem ready for imminent action.
Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster, said Democrats "haven't been able to amass the resources to just have a relentless message on accomplishments."
"We got a good bump off the State of the Union, but there's too much going on and a lot of it … not very good news," she said.
One Democratic senator, who requested anonymity to discuss the failure to boost Biden's job approval rating, said there's little chance of changing the political environment as long as the pandemic and high prices continues to weigh on people's lives.
"I think we need to overcome inflation and continue to fight COVID. It's not so much the message, it's actually getting it done," the lawmaker said.
A second Democratic senator, who also requested anonymity to discuss the party's bad poll numbers, said Democrats and especially Biden need to do a better job to publicize the accomplishments of the past year such as the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan, the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill and postal reform.
But the lawmaker said it's difficult for Biden to focus on the domestic agenda when he's managing the international response to Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine.
"We need to go out and sell the stuff we've already done. The president needs to be out there doing that too. That's gotten harder because of Ukraine, because his time is taken up with that," said the senator.
"People are in a sour mood because of inflation and because of chaos at the border and chaos in Ukraine. In time, the president may look like he's done a good job on Ukraine, but today I'm not sure people are giving him the benefit of the doubt," the lawmaker added. "His think his numbers are low because part of it, frankly, is that he's the age that he is. That worries people."
Biden turned 79 in November.
An NBC poll published on March 27 found that 7 in 10 Americans voiced low confidence in Biden's handling of the war in Ukraine, and 8 in 10 said they feared it would increase the cost of gas and potentially spiral into a much larger conflict.
On the COVID-19 front, Democrats haven't been able to declare complete victory over the pandemic. The announcements last week that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Attorney General Merrick Garland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo contracted the virus is another reminder that it remains a serious health risk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that cases increased by 4.9 percent last week, though coronavirus-related hospitalizations dropped by 10 percent.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) said "part of the challenge is that there's just a level of exhaustion — COVID, the economy, school closures, everything in politics and the 2020 election — I see it all over my district."
"There's just a level of fatigue about all things," she said. "Then you add in tangibles like inflation and gas prices. People's lives are difficult and the challenges they face are real."
She argued that's why Democratic accomplishments such as the American Rescue Plan were needed and important.
"We may not love where we are, we may not feel like things are back to normal — people are so fatigued and tired — our economic recovery has far outpaced some of our European counterparts," she said.
But the Biden administration suffered a setback when they were forced to pull $15 billion in emergency COVID-19 spending from the year-end omnibus spending bill because of objections from House progressives and then couldn't get a $10 billion compromise relief bill through the Senate last week because of GOP opposition.
Senate Democrats say they will take another shot at passing the legislation when they return to Washington after a two-week April recess. They will also try to finish negotiations with the House on a bill to help U.S. manufacturers, especially semiconductor makers, compete with China.
Democratic lawmakers hope to play offense later in the year by moving a slimmed-down reconciliation package to raise corporate taxes, taxes on billionaires and lower the price of prescription drugs.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has already said he opposes a White House proposal to tax the unrealized capital gains of people who have more than $100 billion in assets, but he says there are other ways to tax the ultrawealthy.
Lake, the Democratic pollster, said prescription drug reform is "a great issue."
"It's a very specific issue rather than these big amorphous packages. It's something that affects people's daily life every day. It directly relates to inflation, it directly relates to economic stability. People think you're not going to get it done if you're not a strong leader," she said.
"Either you get it done or you get a vote so you get a bunch of people on record against it," she added. "I think they're coming around on a package they can get passed."
"It's really, really a strong message for us. Sixty-six percent of American adults are on a prescription drug," she added.
Lower down on the list, she identified taxing wealthy corporations and billionaires "to pay their fair share" as very "strong" issues for Democrats to campaign on heading into the election.
"I think Democrats can still do better than expectations here," said Jim Kessler, a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) who now serves as executive vice president for policy at Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank.
He noted that the president's party typically loses 10 to 12 points in bellwether states compared to the party out of power heading into midterm elections.
"The president's party loses 10 to 12 points the moment it drives off the lot," he said.
"Biden and Democrats are performing very close to what normal looks like. So the goal is to do better than normal, and I do believe there is a story that Democrats can tell that involves tightening their message and what they're talking about. It's 'We're beating COVID, we're beating the Russians and we'll beat inflation,'" he said.
Why does it seem like every election, Democrats have a "messaging problem"?
Can they just not tell their constituents how good they are doing despite raging inflation?
The Democrats have a messaging problem because their message doesn't line up with their actions. They want to promote how well the economy is doing because the DOW is high and unemployment is very low. (yeah, ignoring that little issue about inflation...) Problem here is that something like 10% of the population & large companies own around 74% of the DOW so when the DOW is high the rich are doing better, but this doesn't do much for Joe Common Man. Hard to message that you are there for the blue-collar workers when few of them have much in the stock market and what you can brag about is about the people you want to raise taxes on because they don't pay enough. So yeah, how do you message that? That's a problem..
Maybe they wouldn't have to scramble for a "message" if they would pull their heads from their 4th point of contact and do what's right by the citizens and not themselves.
Once again, it’s time for the rats to scurry towards the scuppers of the sinking ship ....
Nah, give them the electoral results version of a cement boot and an anchor as they walk the plank on Election Day. Good riddance!
Tighten the message? LOL! You can put lipstick on a pig, but it will still be a pig.
Perhaps if old Joe hadn't been so damn sure and assured us all that inflation was only a temporary thing, sure to be gone in a matter of a few months................people would believe our county is headed in the right direction instead of the wrong one.
All this messaging bullshit for the Democrats is amusing at least.
Do they believe their constituents are too stupid to realize how great we all have it now with Democrats in control?
They think they’re beating the China virus when more people died of it after biden became president than before?
Biden focused on getting people vaccinated. If people choose to not get vaccinated, there is very little the government can do about it.
Now, look at what took place in the USA, per the CDC, in terms of COVID-19 deaths :
It is the unvaccinated who are driving the death statistics.
Yet somehow Donald Trump was murdering Americans when they died of Covid when a vaccine didn't exist.
Maybe if Brandon and Kamila hadn't been so adamant about not taking the "Trump vaccines" during the run up to the general elections more people would be vaccinated. Maybe if they also stopped lying about the vaccines and their effectiveness- instead compare them to the flu shot; more would get them.
Remember this little gem from Brandon?
"I'm not going to shut down the economy; I am going to shut down Covid"
Big promises from the Brandon idiot brigade. So please tell them to go hump someone else's legs. Just as Trump was held responsible for Covid under his watch; so is Brandon.
These vaccines don't prevent you from getting Covid; don't prevent you from transmitting Covid; and "may" (that is right only may) lessen the affects of Covid. With each successive strain the vaccines have less and less effect. But keep pumping those shots; and make politicians and big pharma even richer. Brandon appreciates your help enriching the Establishment further.
You should address that to someone who has made that claim.
Now, do you recognize that USA deaths are dramatically among the unvaccinated vs. the vaccinated and that Biden has been pushing vaccinations his entire presidency?
Given that and Brandon's own statement that somebody with that many deaths should not be President of the US means that we should be seeing his resignation.
It just amazes (and disgusts) me that some simply refuse to objectively look at the facts of reality.
Kamala stated (and note that I am no fan of Kamala Harris) this (the transcript from the video you posted):
Read what is in blue. It is an important part of her answer. She clearly stated that she does not trust Trump but she absolutely trusts medical professionals.
And, point of fact, she did as she stated. So did Biden.
Is that what the Democrat lemmings in the media harped on? No
They were trying to convince people that any vaccine that came under Trump wouldn't be safe. Period.
It was used to undermine Trump and get elected.
So they can both go hump someone else's leg trying to convince people to take it now.
Partisan blindness at its finest. You cannot even acknowledge what Harris actually said.
How about you read what you read what you are quoting. You just backed up what Ronin said in 4.1.3
Did you miss that or are you purposely ignoring that last sentence?
I included that in the transcript. If I were trying to play some game I would have not included it. Is this the best you have?
The part in blue is what Ronin missed. He focused on the part you focused on and ignored the blue.
I showed him the blue.
See how this works?
Harris said that she does not trust Trump's opinion but she does trust the opinion of medical professionals.
Seems like a very sensible thing. I would not trust Trump either.
And, Harris did indeed get vaccinated as soon as she could because medical professionals recommended it.
Note also that Trump recommended the vaccine too and she took it. So clearly it makes no sense for you to interpret her words to mean that if Trump recommended the vaccine that she would not take it even if medical professionals recommended it too.
Her comment was, obviously, blatantly obviously, that she trusts medical professionals and does not trust Trump and that all Americans should likewise listen to medical professionals on the vaccine and not listen to Trump.
and yet you ignore it. In fact you instructed Ronin to ignore it.
Yes. You're playing selective acknowledgement. You want everybody to focus on a specific part and ignore everything else. And for what? What did you call it? Oh, that's right
Hardly, my comments include the entire transcript.
For example, look at this recent summary:
You should be embarrassed that you cannot see this.
I addressed it to you because I don't recall you ever pushing back against the narrative that Donald Trump was murdering people when almost every single person who died from Covid while he was President was unvaccinated. If Trump was responsible for the death of the unvaccinated, than so is Biden.
Then how are you overlooking exactly what it says?
Of course she said she would trust medical professionals. Then mentioned the person who ran the procedures that gave us Covid (not very smart of her, but then it is Harris). Then she made a statement that you neglected to highlight in blue. You directed people to focus on PART of it. Why? Partisan BULLSHIT.
Really Sean? So if you do not recall me writing a comment opposing something I am ipso facto for it? Do you recall me ever supporting the allegation that Trump murdered people? Does that get factored into your 'recall'?
For the record, I do not read every seed and every comment. I also do not opine on everything I read.
But also for the record, I do not hold that Donald Trump murdered anyone.
I get where you are coming from, but let us take the last portion, make it bold and highlight it in red - ,
Given the political landscape of 2020 more heard the above as the key point ... I myself felt on occasion that the message being sent was 'the vaccine is good' as long as Trump is not the one telling us it is good!
The 'caveat' But if Donald Trump tells us I should that we should take it I'm not taking it. at the end of her statement was unnecessary and was in and of itself rather partisan 'esque .. by inferring that the 'Trump vaccine' was bad... it is a legit (mis) interpretation ...
Yes her ending comment was partisan. That was not in question. It was a dig at Trump. No doubt about it. Again, not the point in question.
And she was not inferring that the Trump vaccine was bad because the vaccines are not Trump vaccines; they are the vaccines that were in their final stages of being approved. Clearly Harris knew that these exact same vaccines are exactly those that she and Biden would be supporting if elected.
Right?
So clearly she was NOT discrediting the vaccines but rather discrediting Trump.
This is the problem I have with this absurd uber-partisanship. Anyone who cannot comprehend that Harris was saying that she would absolutely take the vaccine if recommended by medical professionals but would not take it if the recommendation were merely from Trump is blinded by partisanship.
This is simply too obvious to not comprehend.
Uber-partisan? Blinded by partisanship? Wow I do believe this individual doth protest too much ...! obviously, we do not see the same key factors in her statement, she saved the best for last - the only reason to mention Trump was to toss out red meat during an election .. I seriously question if Fauci had told her to take the vaccine before the election was over, she would have... it is all hide sight, so no one knows for sure I guess .. but I do not think partisanship has anything to do with why individuals interpreted / 'comprehend' her statement differently.
Yes, Colour, I acknowledged this as clearly as I could upfront in my reply to you:
The uber-partisanship that I was referring to resides in those who ONLY see that last statement and ignore the balance of her answer. No way someone looking at this objectively would conclude that Harris was NOT going to take the vaccine merely if Trump recommended (which he was doing at the time of this debate question ... you folks all remember this, right?).
Clearly Harris was making the point that she will take the vaccine if medical professionals recommend it but not based on the recommendation of Trump alone. Harris and you and everyone else knew that the vaccines she was referring to would be the very same vaccines that she and Biden would be using to fight the pandemic.
It just blows my mind that people can be so blinded by partisanship to actually argue that Harris was saying that if Trump recommends the vaccine that she (and by implication the entire nation) would not take it. Especially since he was recommending the vaccine when she said this.
If I am reading this correctly, you are saying that you doubt Harris would take the vaccine on Fauci's recommendation before she was elected? Implying that she took the vaccine only because she was elected V.P.??
What would motivate her to act this way? You think she took the vaccine merely for political reasons and not to protect herself? That she thinks it wiser to NOT take the vaccine?
Harris' answer was that she would take the vaccine based on recommendations of medical professionals, not on the mere recommendation of Trump.
A Presidency spending time trying to define what a woman is and pushing for men to compete with women in sports in the middle of the worst inflation in decades, a border crises it manufactured and a land war in Europe is not a serious Presidency. His administration is just a bunch of crazy people pushing their ideological obsessions on a public that has actual issues to worry about.
Yep, it’s FUBAR ...... no doubt about it.
Well, Democrats could do what they're best at. Run against Joe Biden. Democrats always fare better as the opposition party; sniping from the peanut gallery is a winning playbook for Democrats. It's always someone else's fault.
If Democrat's accomplishments were that obvious then there wouldn't be a need for propaganda to sell them. Price gouging as a campaign issue only highlights common knowledge that the rich always become richer when Democrats are in charge. The Democrat's stance on SALT limits tells us who's side Democrats are on. Pelosi's defense of insider stock trading by sitting Congressmen tells us they aren't concerned about working people. Democrats avid promotion of open border immigration tells us that Democrats' priority is cheap labor and not higher wages. Democrats preference is to subsidize cheap labor for the Walton family through publicly funded welfare programs and not about creating jobs that pay higher wages. Democrats are full throated supporters of a service economy and oppose any efforts to reestablish a manufacturing economy.
Democrats have dedicated themselves to selling out America to fatten their stock portfolios. That's Joe Biden's policy agenda. And Joe Biden proves he is a true blue Democrat every day. Even Joe Biden's weapon of choice to fight Russia is money. For Democrats it's always about the money.
Not according to them.
If it wasn’t so hypocritical it would be funny.
It always causes an eyeroll to watch a new POTUS come in and forget that the people who cast the deciding votes in their favor do not actually want the idiocy that the extreme of their party embraces.
Biden seems to be oblivious generally, but certainly oblivious to the fact that the moderates who tipped the election in his favor were looking for a reconciler who would throw a wet blanket over the vitriol that had dominated US politics since the passing of the ACA. Instead, he's done the traditional pandering to the far left that ends up establishing Republican control of Congress for a decade at a time.