The drop in Joe Biden’s approval, shown by successive polls since August, is a cause for fear and confusion that is not confined to Democratic Party members.
It is no exaggeration to say that if Democrats lose control of the House and Senate in November 2022, the shortcut to a second Trump presidency will be open.
Or, if the senile businessman decides that he makes more money by raising funds from the stolen presidential election lie, he must tolerate a post candidate. Trump remains the most popular Republican, the most formidable fundraiser, and he doesn’t hesitate to pursue his foes within the party.
The audacity demonstrated in the attempted coup d’état on Jan. 6 will only gain traction as Justice, or rather the Department of Justice, seems unwilling to place extremists at the top.
The simplest explanation for Biden’s misfortune boils down to two words — pandemic and inflation. The elderly Democrat slipped to the front of a group of candidates in 2020 amid exhaustion at the health crisis spectacularly exacerbated by Trump.
Biden’s mission was clear: to restore normalcy shattered by the trumpist chaos. But the normal remains elusive. More Covid-19 Americans died in 2021, under Biden, than under the renegade denier Trump in 2020.
The country is approaching 800,000 deaths, despite three vaccines introduced nearly a year ago. Abundance is not reflected in immunity, because drug resistance has become a flagship in the most politicized public health crisis in the country’s history. The US has still not managed to reach 60% of the population immunized with two doses, months after introducing the third booster dose. The delta variant is still the main threat, although headlines this past week have been dominated by the newly identified omicron.
The pandemic sealed Trump’s defeat and continues to define the Biden presidency. The routine imposed by Covid intensified the perception of inequality. Urban elites work from home via Zoom and buy gadgets to liven up isolation — a scenario that provokes the rancor that favored Trump in 2016.
But the return of inflation is not far behind. It is useless for the government to try to explain that the problem is in part due to the pandemic and disruptions in the supply chain and to announce palliative measures.
October’s inflation, 6.2%, hit a three-decade record and is directly responsible for the difficulty of food distribution centers in providing basic items to millions of Americans who depend on public aid.
Biden’s ambitious economic stimulus packages, social protections and infrastructure programs contain popular measures that transcend ideology or party affiliation. But a poll by a Democratic think tank, shortly after a Republican victory over the Virginia government, showed that voters could not cite a single measure implemented by Democrats since Biden took office.
There is no shortage of people accusing the political press, too preoccupied with covering court intrigues, of neglecting to explain the impact of Biden’s programs. There is no way to prove this argument. But there is no doubt that, for the moment, American democracy depends on the success of a president.
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