You Are to Blame, Not Biden, So Shut Up

CNN has a new poll out and it is absolutely brutal for Joe Biden. Literally, only one percent of Americans think things are going very well right now in this poll. That’s really bad. The overall combined score of “very well” and “fairly well” is 21%.

62% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s performance. The reaction from Biden’s supporters? Blame the people.

Tom Nichols @RadioFreeTom

We are an unserious people. https://t.co/7S89U4z7WJ

Frank Luntz @FrankLuntz

"The public’s outlook on the state of the country is the worst it’s been since 2009, while its view on the economy is the worst since 2011. And nearly 7 in 10 say President Joe Biden hasn’t paid enough attention to the nation’s most pressing problems." https://t.co/Hc7NcCPOen

But also, blame the media.

Perry Bacon used to be a Washington Post reporter. He’s now a Post columnist who can be as aggressively partisan as he wants. And now he is attacking his own for being too mean to Biden.

[I]n my view, media coverage is a big factor in those warped polling results. Media commitment to “equal” coverage of both parties has resulted in a year and a half of coverage since Biden entered office that implies both parties are similarly bad, as if the surge of inflation and some of Biden’s policy mistakes rival a Republican Party that is actively undermining democracy in numerous ways, such as continuing to voice baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, passing measures making it harder to vote, and gerrymandering so aggressively in states such as Wisconsin that elections are effectively meaningless.

Only in the cloistered world of the Democrat bubble can one think the media has been too kind to the GOP or too hard on Biden. Bacon started out his piece saying the media turned on Biden because of Afghanistan.

In the first few months of 2021, many in the media focused on narratives that seemed like they could turn into big anti-Biden stories but didn’t pan out. Before most public schools were open, journalists focused on closures because Biden had pledged to get kids back in the classroom. Biden’s first news conference as president, in March 2021, featured numerous questions about a surge in migrants across the southern border and some about his 2024 plans, but not one on covid-19, which the administration seemed to be handling well.

In August, the hunt found its mark: the Afghanistan withdrawal. And as high inflation became entrenched, the media had a perpetual issue to ding the president on.

Imagine a world where a guy like Bacon thinks the press coverage caused Biden’s unpopularity, not Biden’s own actions.

Over at CNN, Biden’s apologists have taken two separate paths. One is to blame events outside Biden’s control. Stephen Collinson is the British opinion writer at CNN who spent four years predictably blasting every single thing Trump did, even when there was no reason. Now he claims events are just outside Biden’s control and Biden is getting the blame.

Whatever happened in the past, it's clear that until Biden can convince the country he has inflation under control, his political fortunes are not likely to improve.

But the most daunting takeaway of the poll for Biden and Democrats, less than four months before the midterm elections, is that he has limited power to control the factor that could most dictate their fates. Biden, seeking to restore independence and integrity to government after Donald Trump's term, has stressed that primary responsibility for fighting inflation lies with the Federal Reserve, not the White House.

John Harwood, when went from humping Democrat legs at the New York Times and CNBC to being a talking points muppet with the DNC’s hand up his backside moving his lips, wants everyone to know the system itself is too broken for poor Joe, master of the Senate for fifty years.

In reality, Biden has achieved a few bipartisan victories, from infrastructure spending in 2021 to gun safety legislation this year. He faltered on the objective he shares with progressives and nearly all other Democrats: major investments to ameliorate climate change and lift struggling families, financed by higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

The reason for that failure is simple. In an evenly divided Senate, Democrats can't afford to lose a single vote on party priorities. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who represents a coal state that opposed Biden by a landslide margin, held out.

My favorite bit of Harwood’s expert “analysis” is this:

But a cursory glance at political conditions in other countries makes plain that, at least for now, Biden's physical condition does not explain his political condition.

French President Emmanuel Macron (44) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (50) rank among the fittest, most vibrant heads of state in the world. Recent measures of their popularity match Biden's standing in the most recent CNN average of major national polls: 39% approve, 58% disapprove.

That’s a line that will reassure the elite there’s nothing Biden can do, but that’s like saying spinach, spam, and cauliflower pizza all poll poorly so clearly there’s something going on with the electorates globally. No, each is polling poorly for distinctive issues related to each item. Using polling of the just re-elected French President and recently re-elected Canadian Prime Minister, both in completely separate countries with completely different domestic issues and political systems, is the sort of analysis only an out of touch progressive leg humper could come up with to keep his ilk reassured doom is not coming.

But doom is coming.

The abortion bounce in the polling has been aborted. People are freaked out about the economy.

It is notable that in the media, as I previously covered, White House staffers are complaining about the President, his decision-making, and the erratic administration of his office. Hell, CNN itself ran a piece on that topic.

It is pretty notable that White House staff are blasting internal dysfunction at the White House and the President’s own performance to CNN and other outlets and Washington Post columnists, CNN “analysts,” and others would rather blame the press, the people, the system, and events outside Biden’s control.

When they all finally turn on Biden and have their cathartic moment, the day of rage will be swift, brutal, and so fun to watch.