Americans are "disappointed" in Biden

In the end, it all comes down to messaging. We’re not good at it. The Republicans are. And we will continue to pay a political price until our elites figure that out.

There was a lot of talk on the Sunday shows about how Americans are “disappointed” with Joe Biden. Why? Because Covid is still a problem nearly a year after Trump left office. Inflation is a growing concern. And my personal favorite: The political culture in DC is still “toxic.” (As if Biden could magically make Republicans love America.)

How many of these are President Biden’s fault? Zero.

Now, I’m the first to tell people that it doesn’t matter whether your PR problem is “fair.” It’s a problem, regardless — so you have to address it, if only to correct people’s misconceptions.

But, it still burns my ass to see Biden blamed for three things he isn’t even responsible for.

On Covid, I’d give Biden a B+/A-.

1. I think more needs to be done to get people at-home tests that are either free, cheap, or covered by insurance.

2. There shouldn’t be any wait anywhere to get tested.

3. Everyone should have a booster available to them now (I’m told in he Pacific Northwest, many adults are still not even eligible.) But Biden did all he could to promote vaccines, in the face of a concerted Republican effort to spread this disease; and

4. Yeah, the CDC’s messaging has been, at times, confusing.

Having said that. Biden’s done a hell of a better job than Mr. “Why don’t we inject bleach?”

Bloomberg @business

Donald Trump throws out the idea of injecting disinfectant to kill the coronavirus during the White House press briefing trib.al/I2ZxBgU

But, Covid remains. And people are “disappointed,” as they thought Covid would be over as soon as Trump left office. Could we have been more up front about the possibility that Covid might linger for years? I knew last year that Covid could be around forever, and that the worst of it might still lay ahead, especially with the GOP base refusing to get vaccinated. I’m not sure why this is news to anyone.

Then there’s inflation. First, it’s not as bad as the media is saying. They keep fear-mongering about $5/gallon gas, when the national average is actually $3.286, and dropping. Now, some prices have gone up enough to understandably disturb consumers, such as the price of groceries. But someone needs to explain to them that last year we were worried about yet another deep recession, as the economy didn’t shut down, but it shrank due to Trump’s incompetence in taking on the pandemic. When an economy comes roaring back, as ours has, inflation is always a risk. (It also didn’t help that Trump let Covid rage out of control, convincing a lot of truckers to retire, and thus creating a worldwide shortage of goods, which means higher prices for the remaining products.)

And finally, there’s the toxic culture in Washington. Voters are right, it is still toxic, and it’s no better than it was the day Trump left office. In fact, it’s worse. Far too many Republican elites now defend the Insurrection, and a large majority of Republican voters think Trump won the election. They’re nuts, but they’re always going to be disappointed in Biden, since they see him as an usurper. Then there’s the political middle. They’re disappointed that folks on the right haven’t come around on the election, Covid, guns, climate change, or any other urgent issue that merits national attention. But there’s little Biden can do to bring Republicans back to sanity. GOP voters are beholden to a disinformation monopoly of Fox News, OAN, Newsmax and GOP elites, spewing divisive garbage, and outright lies, 24 hours a day.

In the end, Joe Biden can’t out-cult a cult.

There are things he can do, however. I’ve written before that Biden’s messaging has at times been subpar. Biden’s speaking style can reinforce GOP stereotypes that he’s weak and old. Particularly, when reading from a teleprompter. He’s just bad at it. Biden is way better speaking off the cuff, gaffes and all, and the White House should have him doing a lot more of it.

But in the end, people are simply naive if they thought Covid would be over, and Republicans would find sanity, less than one year into the Biden presidency. Then there’s the economy, which is doing great. Historically great. Job growth is at an all-time high, and Christmas shopping numbers, just out, broke records. But the perception is far worse than the reality.

And last but not least, there’s the 50-50 Senate. Democrats — and even more-so, the media — have done an awful job explaining why “Democrats can’t get anything done." (Dems have also done an awful job explaining that in fact they’ve gotten a hell of a lot done.) Voters see the drama over the Build Back Better bill, and they blame Democrats, when in reality, the voters are themselves to blame, as they’re the ones who gave us a split Senate.

And finally, there’s the GOP. We wouldn’t need every single Democratic vote if every single Republican hadn’t refused to even negotiate on the BBB bill.

In the end, this all comes down to messaging. We’re not good at it. The Republicans are. And we will continue to pay a political price until our elites figure that out.

Thanks as always, and hope you had a nice holiday, for those who celebrate. JOHN