Joe Biden, comeback Octogenarian?
The title of this pro-Biden puff piece in Politico is “Biden begins 2023 with a stronger hand to play and an inclination to play it.” The title is false news.
Last year, Biden and his party could pass some legislation without any Republican support. This year, having lost control of the House, they cannot. Thus, whatever Biden’s “inclination,” he has a weaker hand this year.
What about Biden’s approval rating? According to the RCP poll average, it’s at 43.5 percent. That’s right about where it was last year at this time, and where it remained for most of the year (though it did dip into the high 30s for a time).
It’s true that the Democrats fared much better in the midterms than most people expected. But the midterms weakened Biden’s hand because the Democrats lost the House. Nor is it reasonable to claim that Biden has a strong hand when the two parties split the aggregated Senate and aggregated gubernatorial vote down the middle, and the aggregated House vote broke slightly in favor of the GOP.
Surviving a near-death political experience isn’t the same thing as holding a strong hand.
Why, then, is Politico touting Biden’s current position? Why, there and elsewhere, are we seeing comeback kid Octogenarian stories?
I think it’s because the pro-Democrat media have concluded that Biden will likely be the Democrats’ nominee in 2024 and, as things stand now, they are fine with this. And, yes, they want to do what they can to help position him for victory.
Why is the media fairly optimistic about Biden’s 2024 prospects? The main reason, in my view, is the 2022 election. If the Democrats could hold their own when the economic situation and historical trends pointed to a drubbing, then it’s not unreasonable for media folks to believe the Dems can win with Biden in 2024.
The other consideration is lack of a better alternative. If Biden isn’t the Democrats’ standard bearer, who will take his place. Kamala Harris? Pete Buttigieg? Gavin Newsom? To recite these names is to understand why Biden doesn’t look so bad to Democrats and their media cheerleaders.
These cheerleaders will view matters differently if Biden’s approval numbers don’t pick up, or if the economy has a bad year, or if Trump continues to recede and DeSantis outperforms Biden in head-to-head polling. For now, though, expect to see plenty more pro-Biden puff pieces and little criticism of the president from the mainstream media.
Great analysis. And I think the Democrats and mainstream and social media underestimate the impact Biden's age and mental slippage would have on the election. Do the American people want a president who is mentally challenged now and would be 86 at the end of a second term? The last two presidential elections were decided by razor thin margins in a few states, so it wouldn't take much to flip the election to the Republicans. Jim Dueholm
Well, I am looking forward to the string of articles that simultaneously hold that the Republican House is doing nothing yet at the same time is the deus ex machina for every conceivable evil over the next two years.