WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden launched Thursday into his second year in office, with a renewed focus on convincing weary Americans that they are better off under his leadership as he embarks on a simple agenda ahead of the midterm election. Huh.
The persistence of the coronavirus, rising inflation and congressional stalemate have taken a bitter toll on Bidens’ approval ratings and threaten a midterm path for his party, but the president sees no need for a major change of direction.
Instead, White House aides previewed subtle changes to how Biden devotes his time, with a greater emphasis on talking directly to Americans and less time in weeds with lawmakers.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday that she wanted to spend more time in the country and less time behind closed doors. She said Biden would rely more on his allies to engage in legislative talks, which aim to free up more of his time to travel and sell his policies.
The White House’s response to a parade of bad headlines reflects the administration’s internal belief that its plight will ease in the coming months as the Omicron version of COVID-19 wanes and its policies take time to take effect. Administration officials believe they have until the summer to raise the Bidens approval rating to help save as many Democratic congressional seats as possible.
The public doesn’t want me to be a presidential senator, Biden said in a rare news conference on Wednesday. They want me to be president and let senators be senators. Biden acknowledged that there is a lot of despair and fatigue in this country and placed the blame entirely on the pandemic, the new enemy.
A video released Thursday by the Bidens opening committee to mark the end of his first year in office offered a preview of what’s to come. The ad highlights progress on the economy and against the virus, but acknowledges that the work is not done.
It’s not completely back, but it’s going strong, narrator Tom Hanks says of the economy. We may be entering the third year of a pandemic none of us wanted or expected, but were moving on.
I can feel the change, New York nurse Sandra Lindsay, who was the first person in the US to get an approved COVID-19 vaccine, says in the video.
Giving Americans the recognition that change is a White House priority.
The pandemic and its aftermath changed how voters judge the performance of Bidens. His $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package propelled the economy into a speedy recovery, but it pushed up inflation by 7% that scared voters. The result is an unusual schism in which voters are financially comfortable yet deeply skeptical about the health of the national economy.
While 64% of Americans rated their financial conditions as good, only 35% felt positive about the overall economy, according to a December survey from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Biden spent part of a meeting Thursday with his Infrastructure Implementation Task Force, which has been accused of rapidly turning previous years’ bipartisan infrastructure legislation into a shovel in the ground and creating new jobs. Billions of dollars have already been allocated, and Biden wants to make sure he gets the credit.
While the White House didn’t immediately announce travel plans for Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris is set to travel to California and Wisconsin this week to find out how to deal with wildfires and replace lead water pipes. To change how the money of the law is being used.
Biden insisted he is not giving up on his nearly $2 trillion household priorities bill, but said on Wednesday he expects chunks to be passed before the midterms. Lowering the bill would probably be necessary to win over Sen. Joe Manchin, the Democratic holdout of West Virginia. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she does not want the legislation to lose its ambitions to address climate change and lower costs for working-class families.
He said that what the President calls a clause, Id hope it will be a big bill.
Eric Schultz, a former spokesman for President Barack Obama, said the administration is still stuck in the nuances of legislative negotiations. He suggested it was certainly right by sending Biden out of Washington to talk more about how his agenda has helped average Americans.
He said Joe Biden is at his best by talking directly to the American people about what they care about.
He also argued that Democrats need to be more empowered to compare with Republicans.
People need to understand that they have their backs.”
Ben LaBolt, another former Obama spokesman, suggested that there was a silver lining to the legislative difficulties of Biden’s first year: restrained expectations for what’s possible, as well as an urgency on the part of Democrats to do something in Congress before midterm. sense of when they could lose control of either or both chambers.
The achievements of the past year have not yet fully scaled with the average American,” he said. “And it takes time for them to learn about it after the law is passed,” he said.
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Associated Press writer Josh Bok contributed.
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